Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,205 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 58.9% in the 1st 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. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.1%

PANW stock opened at $208.55 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $139.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.94, a PEG ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $192.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.28. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $217.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its 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 net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue 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, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $232.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at $19,629,805.65. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.