1,091 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Bought by Essex LLC

Essex LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,091 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of PANW opened at $206.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $138.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s fifty day moving average is $195.23 and its 200-day moving average is $189.80. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $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. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.92, for a total value of $25,594,426.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 149,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,616,344.80. This trade represents a 44.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 32,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,564,943.84. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Twenty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.00.

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.