VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires 26,900 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 71.5%, buying 26,900 shares in the third quarter to hold 64,517 shares valued at approximately $25.6 million. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company.
• Palo Alto Networks exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.02 in EPS versus the $0.98 consensus and $3.41 billion in revenue, up 34.5% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $398.55 price target, although insiders sold 54,210 shares worth approximately $20.8 million over the past 90 days.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 71.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 64,517 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,900 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $25,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 125.0% in the second quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 81 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curry Webb Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $365.87 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $372.15 and a 200-day moving average of $269.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $299.56 billion, a PE ratio of 717.41, a P/E/G ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 0.93. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $432.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.160-4.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total value of $7,533,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total value of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,300. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $390.00 price objective (up from $371.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $525.00 price target (up from $475.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $434.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $440.00 target price (up from $410.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc NASDAQ: PANW is a global cybersecurity company that helps organizations protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, and digital infrastructure. Its offerings are designed to prevent cyberattacks, identify security risks, monitor activity, and support incident response across enterprise, government, and service-provider environments.

The company's portfolio includes network security products such as next-generation firewalls and security operations tools; Prisma, its cloud security platform; and Cortex, a suite focused on endpoint protection, threat detection, security analytics, and automated response.

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