Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock: WASHINGTON TRUST Co Reduces Holdings

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lowered its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 185,096 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 4,340 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 2.2% of WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $73,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PANW. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $25,833,462,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,968,304,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,569,755,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,481,236,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,101,267 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 7.2%

Shares of PANW traded up $25.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $380.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,579,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,277,336. 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. The stock has a market cap of $311.29 billion, a PE ratio of 746.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50 day moving average is $369.33 and its 200 day moving average is $307.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. The firm’s revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $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. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh Paul sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $395.70, for a total transaction of $158,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 77,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,859,455.90. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total transaction of $103,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,825,163.56. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Yorkville Ives assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, October 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho set a $415.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $326.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $320.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.55.

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.