Capital Advisors Inc. OK Sells 55,899 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Capital Advisors Inc. OK reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 15.8%, selling 55,899 shares and retaining 297,911 shares valued at approximately $101.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.42, while several firms recently raised their targets as high as $475.
• Palo Alto Networks exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $0.85 EPS and $3 billion in revenue, but its valuation remains elevated with a P/E ratio above 300, increasing the risk of volatility around upcoming earnings.

Capital Advisors Inc. OK cut its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 15.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 297,911 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 55,899 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 1.5% of Capital Advisors Inc. OK's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Capital Advisors Inc. OK's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $101,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,833,462,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $1,415,364,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,968,304,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,569,755,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,481,236,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $475.00 target price (up from $420.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $326.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Argus set a $425.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.42.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $371.59 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $398.88. 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 market cap of $302.85 billion, a PE ratio of 304.58, a P/E/G ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.91. The business's 50-day moving average price is $344.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $248.45.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total value of $101,134.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,244,839.38. This represents a 4.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,598,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 38,835 shares of company stock worth $11,127,854 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark raised its price target to $400 from $340 and maintained a Buy rating, citing potential upside to next-generation security annual recurring revenue, revenue, operating income and margins. The forecast reinforces expectations that Palo Alto Networks’ AI-security strategy is gaining traction. Palo Alto Networks Gets a $400 Target
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are taking confidence from CrowdStrike’s stronger-than-expected results, which highlighted robust AI-related cybersecurity demand and lifted sentiment across the sector. Palo Alto Networks is viewed as a potential beneficiary of the same spending cycle. Palo Alto Networks Stock Trades Up
• Positive Sentiment: Platformization, adoption of AI-security products and recent deal wins are expected to support fourth-quarter growth. BTIG also assigned PANW a Buy rating, adding to broadly favorable analyst coverage. Palo Alto Networks to Report Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings are the next major catalyst. Traders expect potentially significant movement after the report, while analysts are watching recurring revenue, margins, operating income and guidance—not just revenue and EPS. Expected Post-Earnings Stock Move
• Negative Sentiment: Acquisition-related costs could pressure results, and the stock’s triple-digit P/E ratio—above 300 based on the supplied data—means much of the AI-growth outlook may already be reflected in the price. Any shortfall in growth or guidance could trigger profit-taking. Palo Alto’s Rally Has One Big Problem Ahead of Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Chief Accounting Officer Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares for approximately $318,000, reducing his position by 1.21%. The transaction is small relative to his remaining holdings but may create a modest sentiment headwind. Palo Alto Networks Insider Sale

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source