Ethic Inc. Acquires 3,949 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.3%, acquiring an additional 3,949 shares during Q2, bringing its total to $13.29 million in value.
• Palo Alto Networks reported $0.95 earnings per share for its latest quarter, surpassing expectations and showcasing a 15.8% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Insider trading activity saw significant transactions, with CEO Nikesh Arora selling 846,408 shares, reducing his stake by 75.48%.

Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,261 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,949 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 58.9% during the first quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 224 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of PANW opened at $213.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $198.45 and a 200 day moving average of $191.16. The company has a market capitalization of $142.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.94, a PEG ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $217.94.

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 firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. New Street Research upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group set a $245.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.22.

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.

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