Merit Financial Group LLC Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. by 5.7%, now owning 36,971 shares worth approximately $7.57 million after acquiring an additional 1,997 shares.
• Other institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, also elevated their positions in Palo Alto Networks, indicating strong institutional confidence in the company.
• Palo Alto Networks reported earnings of $0.95 EPS, surpassing analyst expectations, with revenues of $2.54 billion for the last quarter, reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 15.8%.

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,971 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,997 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $10,712,019,000 after buying an additional 1,541,637 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after buying an additional 2,134,735 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,177,765,000 after buying an additional 950,765 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $810,047,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,422,037 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $754,576,000 after buying an additional 219,111 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $207.19 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $190.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.24. The company has a market cap of $138.59 billion, a PE ratio of 129.09, a PEG ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $212.10.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $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 anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total transaction of $23,081,119.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,008,788.94. This trade represents a 40.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,194,356 shares of company stock worth $235,092,941. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

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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