Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Sold by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. lowered its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 69,849 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 3,150 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 0.7% of Wedbush Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $27,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,610,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493,179 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,681,876 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,734,973,000 after purchasing an additional 205,123 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,778,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,993,802,000 after buying an additional 706,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,466,118 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,036,648,000 after buying an additional 273,103 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $25.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $380.55. 6,579,266 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,277,336. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $432.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 746.19, a P/E/G ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50-day moving average of $369.33 and a 200 day moving average of $307.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. 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. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 1,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.61, for a total value of $373,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,031,317.57. This trade represents a 15.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $410.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $434.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, HSBC decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $201.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.55.

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.