Shell Asset Management Co. Decreases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Shell Asset Management Co. lessened its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 78.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,402 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 34,980 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 8,822 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,805,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 30.4% in the 2nd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 47,070 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $9,632,000 after buying an additional 10,971 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.5%

PANW stock opened at $166.95 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.26. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The firm has a market cap of $116.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.66, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $200.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $220.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.97.

Trending Headlines about Palo Alto Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Long-term bull case highlighted — several analyst/commentary pieces argue PANW remains a structural growth name in cybersecurity and a smart buy for long-term investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company growth deals and product momentum are cited as offsets to recent analyst cuts, reinforcing the view that near-term analyst noise may not derail multi-year growth. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q2 preview: Zacks notes PANW is entering Q2 with mid?teen revenue growth expectations but flags decelerating ARR momentum and a premium valuation — a key focus for the upcoming print. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary: PANW recently dropped more than the broader market in intraday moves, reflecting short-term volatility ahead of earnings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target cuts: JPMorgan lowered its PANW target to $225, and other firms (Rosenblatt, BTIG) trimmed targets (Rosenblatt to $225; BTIG to $200), which reduces near-term upside expectations despite some firms maintaining “buy” ratings. Read More. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Deal and listing risk: reports say PANW plans a dual listing on the Tel?Aviv Stock Exchange after closing the ~$25B CyberArk acquisition — there’s short?term investor concern about integration complexity and political/geographic exposure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/reputational risk: Reuters reports PANW opted not to publicly tie China to a recent global hacking campaign it exposed, citing fears of retaliation — this raises potential client, regulatory and reputation considerations. Read More.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next?generation firewalls as a core on?premises capability, alongside cloud?delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.