Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Increases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 47.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 521,482 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 167,570 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $106,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. St. Clair Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% in the second quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 4,668 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 1,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total transaction of $153,979.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,449,674.85. This trade represents a 1.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock worth $249,031,488. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 7.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $185.07 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $209.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.35. The company has a market cap of $126.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.13, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.95% and a net margin of 11.69%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-3.900 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 0.930-0.950 EPS. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Tigress Financial assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price objective on the stock. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.09.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.