Wedbush Securities Inc. Sells 3,150 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Wedbush Securities reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 4.3%, selling 3,150 shares and retaining 69,849 shares valued at approximately $27.75 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of the company.
• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 7.2% to $380.55, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $1.02 and revenue of $3.41 billion, exceeding analyst expectations; revenue increased 34.5% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with 39 Buy ratings and 11 Holds, a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, and an average price target of $398.55. Several firms recently raised their targets, including RBC to $475.

Wedbush Securities Inc. reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,849 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 3,150 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 0.7% of Wedbush Securities Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Wedbush Securities Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $27,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $158,000. XXI Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 72.2% in the 3rd quarter. XXI Wealth LLC now owns 5,274 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,095,000 after buying an additional 2,212 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. MLP3 LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. MLP3 LLC now owns 1,976 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $785,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,547 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $4,588,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 7.2%

NASDAQ PANW traded up $25.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $380.55. 6,579,266 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,277,336. The company has a 50 day moving average of $369.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $307.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $432.33. The firm has a market cap of $311.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 746.19, a PEG ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.93.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $434.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $326.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up from $410.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $398.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total value of $7,533,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total transaction of $10,769,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 117,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,110,900. This represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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