Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $4.27 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 28.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,879 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,665 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $220.29 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $221.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 137.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $201.67 and a 200-day moving average of $192.92.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. 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, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $141,512.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 32,474 shares in the company, valued at $6,564,943.84. This trade represents a 2.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.17.

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.