CENTRAL TRUST Co Has $4.19 Million Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,494 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ellerson Group Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,696,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.2% in the 2nd quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 10,706 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,191,000 after purchasing an additional 2,417 shares during the period. Ibex Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% in the second quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 65,799 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,465,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the second quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. now owns 47,930 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $9,808,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $1,956,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $218.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $149.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $208.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.75. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, October 27th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total value of $153,979.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,449,674.85. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,160,428. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.