Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Bought by Sheets Smith Wealth Management

Key Points

• Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 43.8% during the second quarter, bringing their total investment to approximately $1,051,000.
• In recent trades, insider Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares for about $17.28 million, reducing his ownership by 3.08%.
• Equities research analysts have upgraded Palo Alto Networks' stock, with Piper Sandler raising the target price from $200 to $225, indicating strong investor confidence.

Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 43.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,135 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,565 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. St. Clair Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the first quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crew Capital Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total transaction of $128,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,948,576.60. The trade was a 1.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 563,622 shares of company stock worth $105,459,528 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $212.39.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $203.25 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $189.17 and a 200-day moving average of $186.89. The firm has a market cap of $135.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $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. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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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