Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Bought by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 952,652 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 44,714 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 0.5% of ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $378,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. B&D White Capital Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $2,159,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 240,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $95,366,000 after buying an additional 3,700 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 126.6% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 18,600 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,390,000 after purchasing an additional 10,392 shares during the period. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd now owns 14,641 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,347,000 after purchasing an additional 3,505 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $365.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $299.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 717.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $372.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $269.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $432.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous 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 forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $326.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $390.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Phillip Securities downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $320.00 to $346.00 in a research note on Monday, September 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $253.00 to $351.00 in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, August 28th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.55.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John Key sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total transaction of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,300. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total transaction of $7,533,600.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. 1.40% of the stock is 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.