Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Bought by Vision Capital Management Inc.

Vision Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 25.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,118 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,695 shares during the period. Vision Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $41,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 58.9% in the first quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 224 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $202.21 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $210.39. The stock has a market cap of $135.26 billion, a PE ratio of 125.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $189.45 and a 200 day moving average of $187.18.

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, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’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, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total value of $128,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 37,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,948,576.60. This represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total transaction of $23,081,119.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,008,788.94. This trade represents a 40.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,415,030 shares of company stock worth $279,198,494. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PANW. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $232.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. KeyCorp cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.39.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.