BDF Gestion Sells 2,455 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

BDF Gestion lessened its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,352 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 2,455 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.1% of BDF Gestion’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 125.0% during the 2nd quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 81 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 148.1% during the 1st quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 201 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Weiss Ratings raised Palo Alto Networks from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Mizuho set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $253.00 to $351.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 price target (up from $371.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total transaction of $940,075.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,300. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total transaction of $10,769,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 117,750 shares in the company, valued at $46,110,900. This represents a 18.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have 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.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock traded up $6.33 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $348.33. 1,767,132 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,156,508. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $372.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $302.05. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $432.33. The company has a market capitalization of $284.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 682.38, a P/E/G ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.93. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.