Whelan Financial Acquires 281 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Whelan Financial raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 20.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,671 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 281 shares during the quarter. Whelan Financial’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $810,047,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $633,068,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,234,650,000 after buying an additional 2,134,735 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 77.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,879,506 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $662,000,000 after buying an additional 1,688,432 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 worth $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.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $209.30 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $210.39. The firm has a market cap of $140.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $190.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. 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 research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. New Street Research increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were 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 $543,199,564.80. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 32,474 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock valued at $259,351,606 over the last three months. 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.