Gradient Investments LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Gradient Investments reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 2.3% in the second quarter, selling 4,165 shares and retaining 175,216 shares valued at approximately $59.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Wall Street maintains a generally positive view, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.76, despite one analyst downgrading the stock to “reduce.”
• Palo Alto Networks exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.85 in adjusted EPS and $3 billion in revenue, up 31.1% year over year. Shares traded near $363.86, close to their 52-week high, while insiders sold more than $27 million of stock over the past three months.

Gradient Investments LLC lessened its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,216 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 4,165 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 0.8% of Gradient Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $59,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% during the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. FBN Securities reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $340.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, July 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $333.76.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $363.86 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $317.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $228.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 298.25, a PEG ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $376.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This trade represents a 37.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.

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