Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 12,360 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,517,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,547,000 after acquiring an additional 7,301 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at $75,412,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $277,828,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the period. Finally, Generali Investments Management Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 54,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,077,000 after buying an additional 15,091 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $148.92 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $174.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $190.89. The stock has a market cap of $121.52 billion, a PE ratio of 82.28, a PEG ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Northland Securities lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.62.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This trade represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 259,842 shares of company stock worth $49,778,422. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.