Cascade Financial Partners LLC Sells 1,322 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Cascade Financial Partners LLC decreased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 53.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,136 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,322 shares during the period. Cascade Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $10,712,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,637 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after buying an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,177,765,000 after acquiring an additional 950,765 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $810,047,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,422,037 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $754,576,000 after acquiring an additional 219,111 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $218.27 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $208.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.75. The firm has a market cap of $149.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 1,215,830 shares of company stock valued at $249,160,428 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.67.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.