Bragg Financial Advisors Inc Buys 6,793 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Bragg Financial Advisors Inc significantly increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, raising its position by 471.7% to own 8,233 shares worth approximately $1.4 million.
• The majority of Palo Alto Networks' stock, approximately 79.82%, is now held by institutional investors, signaling strong market confidence.
• Several analysts maintain a positive outlook on Palo Alto Networks, with the stock receiving a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price averaging around $211.52.

Bragg Financial Advisors Inc lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 471.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,233 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,793 shares during the period. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 44.8% in the 1st quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 54,185 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $9,246,000 after purchasing an additional 16,759 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 117,000 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $20,026,000 after purchasing an additional 10,365 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 94,861 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $16,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656 shares during the period. Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Finally, Wormser Freres Gestion lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,394.5% in the 1st quarter. Wormser Freres Gestion now owns 19,458 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,372,000 after purchasing an additional 18,156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.56 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $185.88. 6,857,662 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,063,346. The business's 50-day moving average price is $190.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. 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, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $543,199,564.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 669,948 shares of company stock worth $126,552,277 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.52.

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.