Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Sells 3,169 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,914 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 3,169 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises 0.9% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,694,000. Clark Financial Services Group Inc. BD boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Clark Financial Services Group Inc. BD now owns 3,537 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 945 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Greg Jennings LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,047,000. Finally, Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the third quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 7,806 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,101,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $4.95 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $346.95. 4,595,061 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,170,998. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $371.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $303.36. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $432.33. The firm has a market cap of $283.81 billion, a PE ratio of 680.31, a P/E/G ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for 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%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $410.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. Yorkville Ives initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, October 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $375.00 price target (up from $370.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. HSBC dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $201.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $3,760,300. This trade represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total value of $103,070.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,825,163.56. This trade represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.