WINTON GROUP Ltd Sells 7,775 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• WINTON GROUP Ltd cut its Palo Alto Networks stake by 39.7% in the second quarter, selling 7,775 shares and retaining 11,829 shares valued at approximately $4.03 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of the company.
• Palo Alto Networks exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.02 EPS and $3.41 billion in revenue, with revenue rising 34.5% year over year. The company issued FY 2027 EPS guidance of $4.16–$4.19.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $386.32, although Citigroup downgraded the stock to neutral and insiders have sold shares in recent months.

WINTON GROUP Ltd lowered its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 39.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,829 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 7,775 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $65,796,000 after acquiring an additional 53,485 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $104,774,000 after purchasing an additional 29,230 shares in the last quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,159,000. Finally, Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $338.49 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $349.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $260.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 663.72, a PEG ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, 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 $398.88.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's revenue 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Citigroup cut Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Capital One Financial boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $421.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $386.32.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total value of $101,134.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,244,839.38. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.68, for a total value of $336,312.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 72,484 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,085,821.12. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,667 shares of company stock valued at $3,058,443. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides security products and services to businesses, governments and other organizations worldwide. The company helps customers protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, applications and connected devices from cyber threats.

Its portfolio includes next-generation firewalls and network security technologies, as well as cloud-delivered security solutions such as Prisma Access and Prisma Cloud. Palo Alto Networks also offers Cortex products for endpoint protection, security operations, threat detection and response, and automation.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PANW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.