Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 102,838 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $21,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 58.9% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 224 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 46.8% in the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 232 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $259,351,606 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of PANW opened at $207.19 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $190.20 and its 200-day moving average is $188.20. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $212.10. The firm has a market cap of $138.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.64.

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.