Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Sells 4,095 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Goelzer Investment Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. by 8.2%, selling 4,095 shares, leaving them with 45,555 shares valued at approximately $9.32 million.
• Institutional investors hold a significant portion of Palo Alto Networks, owning 79.82% of the company's stock, with several large firms increasing their stakes in recent quarters.
• Palo Alto Networks' stock has been the subject of numerous research upgrades, with analysts setting a consensus price target of $211.68 and a majority rating it as a "Moderate Buy."

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,555 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 4,095 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $9,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. SWAN Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 200 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $2.56 during trading on Thursday, reaching $205.68. 5,443,742 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,397,011. The stock's fifty day moving average is $187.91 and its 200 day moving average is $186.20. The firm has a market cap of $137.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.98. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total value of $128,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,723 shares in the company, valued at $6,948,576.60. This trade represents a 1.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction 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 $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 569,422 shares of company stock valued at $106,629,618. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $232.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Bank of America upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, UBS Group set a $185.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Twenty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.39.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.