Prospera Financial Services Inc Has $9.93 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 35.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 48,516 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,590 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $9,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd 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 acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $212.29 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $207.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.99. The firm has a market cap of $142.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 0.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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 analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 represents a 40.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,160,428. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PANW. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Tigress Financial began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating 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 one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.17.

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.