Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Position Raised by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,494 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Ellerson Group Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,696,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 29.2% during the 2nd quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 10,706 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,191,000 after purchasing an additional 2,417 shares during the period. Ibex Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 65,799 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,465,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the second quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. now owns 47,930 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $9,808,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $1,956,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $218.27 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The stock has a market cap of $149.29 billion, a PE ratio of 135.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $208.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The business’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, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,629,805.65. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,160,428 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.