1,428 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC lowered its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,428 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $19,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $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 valued at $12,610,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493,179 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in 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 worth $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 holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in the 2nd 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 worth $2,993,802,000 after acquiring an additional 706,003 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,466,118 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,036,648,000 after purchasing an additional 273,103 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $365.87 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $372.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $269.89. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $299.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 717.41, a PEG ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 0.96. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $432.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Phillip Securities cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $346.00 in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $525.00 price target (up from $475.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, October 12th. New Street Research set a $415.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Wedbush started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total value of $10,769,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,110,900. The trade was a 18.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.70, for a total transaction of $158,280.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 77,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,859,455.90. This represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029 in the last 90 days. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by 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.