Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stake Reduced by First Financial Corp IN

First Financial Corp IN lowered its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,625 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,593 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 125.0% in the second quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 81 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 148.1% in the first quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 201 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.7%

NASDAQ PANW traded down $6.80 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $397.03. The stock had a trading volume of 3,477,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,204,321. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $432.33. The stock has a market cap of $324.77 billion, a PE ratio of 778.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.05 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $372.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $295.90. 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 (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stephens set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $410.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $392.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 1,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.61, for a total value of $373,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,031,317.57. The trade was a 15.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total transaction of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,300. This trade represents a 20.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides solutions designed to help organizations protect networks, endpoints, cloud environments, applications and users from cyber threats. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud-delivered security services, secure access service edge (SASE) solutions, endpoint protection and security operations tools.

The company also provides platforms and services for cloud security, threat intelligence, incident response, vulnerability management and the automation of security operations.