Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by SFE Investment Counsel

SFE Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 84,546 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,212 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up 2.1% of SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 4,310 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,227 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Outfitters Financial LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Outfitters Financial LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 2,312 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PGIM Custom Harvest LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC now owns 3,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $12.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $325.91. 4,677,069 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,047,614. The company has a market cap of $265.62 billion, a PE ratio of 267.14, a P/E/G ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $274.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.64. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $368.17.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. HSBC increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $114.00 to $207.00 in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Scotiabank restated a “sector outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $318.65.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,058,590. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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.