Nicholas Company Inc. Reduces Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Nicholas Company Inc. cut its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 267,117 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 17,735 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $54,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 205,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $41,957,000 after purchasing an additional 41,392 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 39,893 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,164,000 after purchasing an additional 3,351 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,629,805.65. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock valued at $243,407,367 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Tigress Financial began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price target on the stock. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.17.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $220.24 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.30. The company has a market capitalization of $147.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 137.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current 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.