Values First Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Values First Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 25.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,839 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PANW. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $31,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $33,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 46.8% in the first quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 232 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $205.51 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $217.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $195.98 and its 200 day moving average is $190.04. The company has a market cap of $137.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.04, a PEG ratio of 4.91 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. 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, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PANW. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $232.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Twenty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 2.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock valued at $260,687,367. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.