Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Position Cut by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,979 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.0% of Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $10,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 58.9% in the first quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 224 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 15th. BTIG Research upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $232.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, 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 at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $141,512.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 32,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,564,943.84. This trade represents a 2.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock valued at $243,407,367. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $218.27 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $146.00 billion, a PE ratio of 135.99, a PEG ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $203.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.81.

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

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.