Western Pacific Wealth Management LP Trims Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Western Pacific Wealth Management LP decreased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 22.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,220 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 630 shares during the period. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $10,712,019,000 after buying an additional 1,541,637 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,234,650,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,735 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,177,765,000 after acquiring an additional 950,765 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $810,047,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,422,037 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $754,576,000 after purchasing an additional 219,111 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $205.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $188.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.35. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $210.39. The stock has a market cap of $137.58 billion, a PE ratio of 128.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s 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, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. New Street Research upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. KeyCorp lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.39.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 177,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,008,788.94. The trade was a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 568,622 shares of company stock worth $106,468,778 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.