Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Trims Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lowered its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 9.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,012 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,464 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $65,796,000 after buying an additional 53,485 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $104,774,000 after acquiring an additional 29,230 shares in the last quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% in the first quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after acquiring an additional 4,659 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,926,000 after acquiring an additional 3,926 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $1,554,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Arete Research raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $185.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Mizuho increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $340.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.96.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 6.8%

PANW stock opened at $352.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $287.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 289.25, a P/E/G ratio of 12.26 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $368.17. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $280.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $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. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total transaction of $101,134.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,244,839.38. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,058,590. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: PANW is benefiting from a broad cybersecurity rally, with buyers moving into the group after cooler-than-expected inflation data eased pressure on high-valuation tech stocks. CrowdStrike Climbs 11%, Palo Alto Rises 7% as Cybersecurity Stocks Rally on Cooling Inflation
• Positive Sentiment: IBM’s warning about “rapidly-evolving” cybersecurity concerns is also lifting sentiment across the sector, as it suggests more corporate demand for security tools and services. IBM Heads for Worst Day Ever — But Why Are Cybersecurity Stocks Up?
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer called Palo Alto Networks “unbelievable,” adding another bullish headline that can help support investor enthusiasm around the stock. Jim Cramer Reveals Why Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) Is “Unbelievable”
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles note that PANW has attracted heavy investor attention and has already delivered strong gains over the past year, which underscores momentum but does not add a new fundamental catalyst. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analyst-style coverage still points to higher integration costs and says Zscaler has the edge on valuation and Zero Trust adoption, which is more of a relative comparison than a direct blow to PANW. PANW vs. ZS: Which Cybersecurity Stock Has an Edge Right Now?

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.