Exchange Capital Management Inc. Invests $249,000 in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Exchange Capital Management Inc. has invested approximately $249,000 in Palo Alto Networks, acquiring 1,217 shares of the network technology company in the 2nd quarter of the year.
• Multiple hedge funds have been accumulating shares in Palo Alto Networks, with 79.82% of the company's stock currently owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook on Palo Alto Networks, with an average target price of $214.64 and the majority issuing "buy" ratings for the stock.

Exchange Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,217 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 26,839 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $5,169,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at about $1,205,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 28.9% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 324,055 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $66,315,000 after buying an additional 72,559 shares during the last quarter. Syntax Research Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $2,383,000. Finally, Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.5% in the second quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,370 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,941,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler raised Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 15th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.64.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of PANW opened at $207.19 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $212.10. The stock has a market cap of $138.59 billion, a PE ratio of 129.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.98. The business's 50-day moving average price is $190.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company 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. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $141,512.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 32,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,564,943.84. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock valued at $259,351,606. Corporate 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.

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