Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5%, owning approximately 512,424 shares worth $87.44 million after selling 18,358 shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Csenge Advisory Group and GSG Advisors LLC, have increased their stakes in Palo Alto Networks during the same period.
• Palo Alto Networks reported impressive financial results with earnings per share of $0.95, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.89, alongside a revenue increase of 15.8% year-over-year.

Baird Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 512,424 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 18,358 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks worth $87,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.9% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,503 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 17.4% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 1,180 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Stony Point Capital LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 152.2% in the first quarter. Stony Point Capital LLC now owns 327,785 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $55,933,000 after purchasing an additional 197,791 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 149.0% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 473,880 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $80,863,000 after purchasing an additional 283,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clough Capital Partners L P boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 58.7% during the 1st quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P now owns 74,410 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $12,697,000 after acquiring an additional 27,530 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Northland Securities dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.52.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of PANW traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $190.52. 5,189,897 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,595,628. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $210.39. The firm's fifty day moving average is $189.39 and its 200-day moving average is $185.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total value of $19,866,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,243,516 shares in the company, valued at $644,356,888.56. This trade represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 569,422 shares of company stock worth $107,116,337. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.