IMS Capital Management Takes $1.70 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• IMS Capital Management acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, purchasing 8,324 shares valued at approximately $1.70 million during the second quarter.
• Palo Alto Networks received multiple favorable ratings from analysts, with price targets ranging from $185 to $230, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insider trading activity included significant sales, with executives selling over 563,000 shares valued at around $105 million in the last quarter.

IMS Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,324 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,703,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 58.9% in the 1st 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $215.00 target price (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $212.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. UBS Group set a $185.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.39.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 37,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,948,576.60. The trade was a 1.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total transaction of $19,866,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,243,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,356,888.56. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 563,622 shares of company stock valued at $105,459,528. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $203.25 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $210.39. The business's 50 day moving average is $189.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.89. The firm has a market cap of $135.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.64, a PEG ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The company'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. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.