Independence Bank of Kentucky Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,792 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,256 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 58.9% during the first quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 224 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 46.8% during the first quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 232 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total transaction of $128,940.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,723 shares in the company, valued at $6,948,576.60. The trade was a 1.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,415,030 shares of company stock worth $279,198,494. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 price target 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 report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.64.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $202.37 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.09, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $210.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.47.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last 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. Analysts anticipate 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.