1,583 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Virtue Capital Management LLC

Virtue Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 35.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,911 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,583 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 265.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 17,060 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,778,000 after acquiring an additional 12,390 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% in the third quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 632 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth $248,425,000. Stevens Capital Partners bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth $270,000. Finally, Elevation Capital Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth $206,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.9%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $351.72 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $432.33. 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 has a market capitalization of $287.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 689.66, a PEG ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $372.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $270.70.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released 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. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm 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. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares in the company, valued at $46,110,900. This trade represents a 18.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh Paul sold 900 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 72,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $253.00 to $351.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Roth Capital restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. 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 note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average 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.