Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Holdings Lowered by Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC

Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 18.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 136,553 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 31,179 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up 4.1% of Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $46,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $65,796,000 after purchasing an additional 53,485 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $104,774,000 after buying an additional 29,230 shares in the last quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $2,159,000. Finally, Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% in the first quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after buying an additional 4,659 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Palo Alto Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised price targets. JPMorgan increased its target from $326 to $384 and maintained an “overweight” rating, while Benchmark raised its target from $340 to $400 and reiterated a “buy” rating. These revisions reflect continued confidence in Palo Alto Networks’ growth prospects. JPMorgan price target article Benchmark price target article
• Positive Sentiment: Cybersecurity demand remains a long-term growth driver. Strong firewall bookings, expanding software revenue and increasing AI-related network traffic are supporting the company’s Network Security outlook. Can Rising Network Security Demand Boost PANW’s Long-Term Growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings are the next major catalyst. Palo Alto Networks was expected to report quarterly results on Tuesday. Investors will focus on billings, recurring software and platform growth, profitability and forward guidance to determine whether the company’s elevated valuation is justified. Palo Alto Networks Expected to Post Earnings on Tuesday
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and profit-taking may be weighing on the stock. Despite favorable analyst commentary, PANW trades at a very high reported P/E ratio of about 279 and has risen sharply over the past year. The decline while the market gained indicates investors may be locking in profits or demanding stronger near-term results before bidding shares higher. Palo Alto Networks Stock Sinks As Market Gains

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total value of $5,598,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,935 shares of company stock worth $10,809,461. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PANW. Benchmark increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $390.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Arete Research increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $185.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.87.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.1%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $339.90 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $398.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $277.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 278.61, a P/E/G ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $339.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.71.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced 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 business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.