Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Avestar Capital LLC

Avestar Capital LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 26.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,151 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 6,645 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. B&D White Capital Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $2,159,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% during the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 240,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $95,366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 126.6% during the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 18,600 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,390,000 after purchasing an additional 10,392 shares during the period. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.5% in 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 last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $365.87 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $372.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $269.89. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week 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 company has a market cap of $299.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 717.41, a PEG ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.93.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm 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, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Mizuho set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Northland Securities set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Loop Capital raised their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $420.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. 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 value of $158,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 77,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,859,455.90. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 250 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total transaction of $103,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,825,163.56. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.