Sands Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Sands Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 162,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 31,656 shares during the quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $30,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total value of $313,588.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,272,790.88. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $802,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,103,105. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 81,044 shares of company stock valued at $20,424,722 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Arete Research upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.59.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $279.62 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $216.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 229.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $302.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next?generation firewalls as a core on?premises capability, alongside cloud?delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.