Davis R M Inc. Decreases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Davis R M Inc. lowered its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 698,384 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 6,747 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 2.5% of Davis R M Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Davis R M Inc. owned about 0.10% of Palo Alto Networks worth $142,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,290,270,000 after buying an additional 1,253,589 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,093,262,000 after acquiring an additional 169,055 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,295,588 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,083,689,000 after acquiring an additional 377,496 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 54,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at about $675,865,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 259,842 shares of company stock worth $49,778,422 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $148.92 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $174.60 and its 200 day moving average is $190.89. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $121.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.28, a PEG ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. New Street Research cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Evercore increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.62.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.