Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 17.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 669 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $10,712,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,637 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the first 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 valued at $1,177,765,000 after purchasing an additional 950,765 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 92.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,951,283 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,082,895,000 after purchasing an additional 2,862,718 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $810,047,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $212.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Northland Securities lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Twenty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.68.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of PANW opened at $196.29 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $210.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $188.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.90. The firm has a market cap of $131.30 billion, a PE ratio of 122.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The business’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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 42,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,450,734.65. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 569,422 shares of company stock valued at $106,629,618 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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.