Waycross Partners LLC Purchases 6,485 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Waycross Partners opened a new Palo Alto Networks position, buying 6,485 shares valued at approximately $2.58 million in the third quarter.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly EPS of $1.02, above the $0.98 consensus, and revenue of $3.41 billion, up 34.5% year over year.
• Analysts give the stock a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, with an average price target of $398.55; shares recently traded at $313.84, down 0.3% for the day.

Waycross Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,485 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,577,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PANW. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,610,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493,179 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,681,876 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $7,734,973,000 after buying an additional 205,123 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,778,963 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,993,802,000 after buying an additional 706,003 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,968,304,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $0.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $313.84. 6,284,640 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,572,887. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $432.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $370.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $273.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $256.96 billion, a PE ratio of 615.38, a P/E/G ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.96.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total transaction of $7,533,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total value of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $440.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $434.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $420.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $398.55.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides products and services to help organizations protect their networks, cloud environments, devices and applications. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud security tools, secure access services and platforms for detecting and responding to cyber threats.

The company's product portfolio includes Prisma for cloud and network security and Cortex for security operations, including threat detection and response. It also provides cybersecurity consulting and incident-response services through Unit 42.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Palo Alto Networks serves businesses, government agencies and other organizations around the world.

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