Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock: Westover Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Stake

Westover Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 39,513 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,344 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 2.5% of Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $15,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $25,833,462,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,968,304,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,569,755,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,481,236,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the 1st 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John Key sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total value of $940,075.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,300. This trade represents a 20.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $10,769,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 117,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,110,900. This trade represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Yorkville Ives initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, October 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $434.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine equities research 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, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $390.46 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $432.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $319.40 billion, a PE ratio of 765.62, a P/E/G ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $370.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $264.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. 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 predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share 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.