King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 36,439 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 850,863 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 36,439 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 1.4% of King Luther Capital Management Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $338,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Bingham Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% during the third quarter. Bingham Private Wealth LLC now owns 948 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.7% in the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 49,183 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $19,541,000 after acquiring an additional 5,927 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 17,897 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,111,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at $302,000. Finally, Granville Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the third quarter. Granville Capital Inc. now owns 1,854 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Key sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total transaction of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,300. This trade represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Northland Securities set a $360.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $420.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stephens set a $400.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Mizuho set a $415.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $334.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $273.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 655.84, a P/E/G ratio of 9.36 and a beta of 0.96. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $432.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $367.81 and a 200 day moving average of $275.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The business 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior 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. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is a cybersecurity company that provides products and services to help organizations protect their networks, cloud environments, devices and applications. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud security tools, secure access services and platforms for detecting and responding to cyber threats. The company’s product portfolio includes Prisma for cloud and network security and Cortex for security operations, including threat detection and response. It also provides cybersecurity consulting and incident-response services through Unit 42.