Smith Salley Wealth Management Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 34.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,142 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. City Holding Co. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 19,945 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,082,000 after buying an additional 4,590 shares during the last quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $221,000. Wagner Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $225,000. Finally, Sonora Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,266 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total value of $23,081,119.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,954 shares in the company, valued at $34,008,788.94. The trade was a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,415,030 shares of company stock valued at $279,198,494. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.1%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $202.37 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.47. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $210.39. The company has a market capitalization of $135.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Bank of America upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.64.

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.