Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock: IFP Advisors Inc Trims Holdings

IFP Advisors Inc trimmed its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 110,523 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 5,846 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 0.7% of IFP Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $43,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,833,462,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $1,968,304,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $1,569,755,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $1,481,236,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,476,753 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,603,473,000 after buying an additional 3,101,267 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total transaction of $10,769,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,110,900. The trade was a 18.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh Paul sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.68, for a total transaction of $336,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 72,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,085,821.12. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $410.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Stephens set a $400.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $393.02.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $342.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $372.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $301.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $432.33. The stock has a market cap of $279.76 billion, a PE ratio of 670.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.93.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business’s revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $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. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.