Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Has $4.34 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,205 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 58.9% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 224 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 46.8% during the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 232 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, September 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Bank of America raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, UBS Group set a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.95.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $208.55 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $217.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $192.94 and a 200-day moving average of $189.28. The stock has a market cap of $139.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.92, for a total transaction of $25,594,426.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 149,190 shares in the company, valued at $31,616,344.80. The trade was a 44.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.