Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Position Increased by SFE Investment Counsel

SFE Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 84,546 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,212 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 2.1% of SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. 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 have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Steph & Co. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. FBN Securities restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Argus raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $222.00 to $320.00 in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $253.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $318.65.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.7%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $12.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $325.91. 4,677,069 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,047,614. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.64. 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. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $368.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,598,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,447,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,058,590. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.