Empowered Funds LLC Grows Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 408.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 221,478 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 177,919 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $35,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSG Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the first quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Outfitters Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Outfitters Financial LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 2,312 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC now owns 3,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 1,739 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at $42,058,590. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $317.32 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $302.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.75. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $368.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.62 billion, a PE ratio of 260.10, a P/E/G ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.91. 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 released 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $387.00 target price (up from $320.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Argus set a $425.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.48.

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.