Abbot Financial Management Inc. Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Abbot Financial Management acquired 10,263 Palo Alto Networks shares worth approximately $3.5 million, making PANW its 22nd-largest holding and representing about 1.2% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of the company.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly EPS of $0.85 versus $0.79 expected, while revenue reached $3 billion and rose 31.1% year over year. The company issued fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $3.77–$3.79.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $339.61, although insiders have sold approximately $27.2 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Abbot Financial Management Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 10,263 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,500,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.2% of Abbot Financial Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% during the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $384.27 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $313.18 billion, a PE ratio of 314.98, a P/E/G ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $328.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $235.70. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $398.88.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Arete Research upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $185.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $339.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total transaction of $16,270,119.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,058,590. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ: PANW is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company's product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.

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