Advisors Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,404 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $19,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 205,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $41,957,000 after acquiring an additional 41,392 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $916,099,000 after purchasing an additional 54,601 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of PANW opened at $183.89 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $223.61. The stock has a market cap of $128.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.39, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $208.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $197.40.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-3.900 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 0.930-0.950 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,449,674.85. This trade represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock worth $249,031,488 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks 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.