Kovack Advisors Inc. Has $10.23 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Kovack Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,979 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 1.0% of Kovack Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $10,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $810,047,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $633,068,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,234,650,000 after buying an additional 2,134,735 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 77.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,879,506 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $662,000,000 after buying an additional 1,688,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $10,712,019,000 after buying an additional 1,541,637 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 149,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,616,344.80. This represents a 44.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock valued at $243,407,367. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $218.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.81.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $232.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.17.

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.