Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Sells 7,561 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,451 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 7,561 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $10,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% during the third quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 632 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the third quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. MBA Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the third quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 1,840 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.0% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 472 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riversedge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,285 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total value of $103,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,825,163.56. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total transaction of $10,769,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,110,900. This represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $326.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $267.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 639.93, a PEG ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day moving average of $368.37 and a 200 day moving average of $275.05. 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price target (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, August 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $326.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

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.