Waycross Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Waycross Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,485 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,577,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,610,748,000 after buying an additional 1,493,179 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,681,876 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,734,973,000 after buying an additional 205,123 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in 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 grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 273,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $410.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $420.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $320.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded down $0.83 on Friday, hitting $313.84. 6,284,640 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,572,887. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $370.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $273.58. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $432.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $256.96 billion, a PE ratio of 615.38, a P/E/G ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total value of $7,533,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh Paul sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.70, for a total value of $158,280.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 77,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,859,455.90. This represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides products and services to help organizations protect their networks, cloud environments, devices and applications. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud security tools, secure access services and platforms for detecting and responding to cyber threats.

The company’s product portfolio includes Prisma for cloud and network security and Cortex for security operations, including threat detection and response. It also provides cybersecurity consulting and incident-response services through Unit 42.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Palo Alto Networks serves businesses, government agencies and other organizations around the world.