Wambolt & Associates LLC Sells 539 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Wambolt & Associates LLC reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,095 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 539 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.4% of Wambolt & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connective Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $3,199,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 92.0% during the second quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 743,245 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $152,098,000 after purchasing an additional 356,071 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 33.1% during the second quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 38,263 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,814,000 after purchasing an additional 9,522 shares in the last quarter. Viawealth LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the second quarter. Viawealth LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.2% in the 2nd quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $186.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.40. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $223.61. The firm has a market cap of $129.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The business’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. 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 forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total value of $153,979.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,449,674.85. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total transaction of $23,081,119.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,954 shares in the company, valued at $34,008,788.94. The trade was a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock worth $249,031,488 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PANW. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Stephens increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, October 27th. New Street Research upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.