RFG Advisory LLC Decreases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

RFG Advisory LLC cut its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 37.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,119 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 4,215 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 35,252.4% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 417,760,413 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $142,464,656,000 after buying an additional 416,578,710 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $25,833,462,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $1,415,364,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,968,304,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $1,569,755,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh Paul sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were 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. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 9,667 shares of company stock worth $3,058,443 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.0%

PANW stock opened at $338.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $275.87 billion, a PE ratio of 663.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $349.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $260.57. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $398.88. 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 (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $253.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stephens set a $400.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $326.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Capital One Financial increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $421.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $386.32.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

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.