1,583 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Virtue Capital Management LLC

Virtue Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 35.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,911 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,583 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PANW. B&D White Capital Company LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,159,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 240,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $95,366,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 126.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 18,600 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,390,000 after acquiring an additional 10,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.5% during the first quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd now owns 14,641 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,347,000 after purchasing an additional 3,505 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $320.00 to $346.00 in a research note on Monday, September 7th. Citizens Jmp lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $320.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $351.72 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $287.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 689.66, a PEG ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day moving average of $372.02 and a 200 day moving average of $270.70. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $432.33.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total value of $10,769,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 117,750 shares in the company, valued at $46,110,900. This trade represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029 in the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.