Wesbanco Bank Inc. Grows Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 157,769 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 14,618 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 1.0% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $32,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. SWAN Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 200 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Glen Eagle Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,450,734.65. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at $543,199,564.80. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 569,422 shares of company stock worth $106,629,618 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $196.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business 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. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report 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 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.68.

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.