Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Whitener Capital Management Inc.

Whitener Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,559 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 129 shares during the period. Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the 1st 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 during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,177,765,000 after buying an additional 950,765 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $810,047,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,422,037 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $754,576,000 after purchasing an additional 219,111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PANW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Twenty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total value of $128,940.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 37,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,948,576.60. This trade represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 568,622 shares of company stock worth $106,468,778. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $208.19 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $210.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $188.60 and a 200 day moving average of $186.53. The firm has a market cap of $139.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. The firm’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. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.