Persium Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Persium Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,586 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,304 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 0.7% of Persium Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Persium Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,610,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493,179 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,681,876 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,734,973,000 after purchasing an additional 205,123 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,778,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,993,802,000 after purchasing an additional 706,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,466,118 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,036,648,000 after purchasing an additional 273,103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.4%

PANW traded down $14.34 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $405.57. 3,888,749 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,289,067. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $367.69 and its 200 day moving average is $290.71. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $432.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $331.76 billion, a PE ratio of 795.25, a P/E/G ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 0.93.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%.The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total value of $7,533,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh Paul sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.70, for a total transaction of $158,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 77,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,859,455.90. This represents a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,960 shares of company stock worth $20,719,959. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI and cybersecurity momentum: PANW benefited from a broad rally in cybersecurity stocks after Zscaler reaffirmed its fiscal 2027 earnings outlook. Investor interest is also increasing in security tools designed to protect AI agents, following CrowdStrike’s accelerator with Amazon Web Services and NVIDIA. Palo Alto Networks Stock Reaches New Highs: What’s Happening?
• Positive Sentiment: Strong operating results and outlook: The company’s latest quarterly revenue increased 34.5% year over year to $3.41 billion, exceeding estimates, while earnings of $1.02 per share also topped expectations. Management’s fiscal 2027 EPS guidance of $4.16–$4.19 reinforces expectations for continued growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Favorable analyst positioning: Sell-side firms broadly maintain a constructive view, with 38 analysts issuing Buy ratings and 12 assigning Hold ratings. The overall consensus is “Moderate Buy,” although the average price target of $391.32 is below recent trading levels. Palo Alto Networks Rated Moderate Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Long-term performance remains a selling point: A $1,000 investment held for ten years substantially outperformed the S&P 500, highlighting PANW’s successful expansion from firewall products into a broader cloud, endpoint and AI-security platform. However, past performance does not eliminate valuation risk. A $1,000 Bet on Palo Alto Networks Beat the S&P 500
• Negative Sentiment: Very elevated valuation: PANW’s market capitalization is approximately $332 billion, while its reported P/E ratio is near 800. The stock’s rally has pushed it above the consensus price target, increasing the risk of consolidation or profit-taking if growth expectations moderate.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: Chief Accounting Officer Josh Paul sold 400 shares worth approximately $158,280. The transaction reduced his holdings by only 0.51%, so it is a limited signal, but it may add to short-term selling pressure. Palo Alto Networks Insider Selling

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Capital One Financial raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $421.00 to $428.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Citigroup lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Finally, FBN Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Thirty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $391.32.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides solutions designed to help organizations protect networks, endpoints, cloud environments, applications and users from cyber threats. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud-delivered security services, secure access service edge (SASE) solutions, endpoint protection and security operations tools.

The company also provides platforms and services for cloud security, threat intelligence, incident response, vulnerability management and the automation of security operations.