Empowered Funds LLC Sells 51,180 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 65.4%, selling 51,180 shares in the first quarter and retaining 27,027 shares valued at $4.6 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported an earnings per share of $0.95 for the latest quarter, exceeding expectations, with a revenue of $2.54 billion.
• Institutional investors own 79.82% of Palo Alto Networks stock, reflecting strong investor interest in the company's performance and growth potential.

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 65.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,027 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 51,180 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $282,000. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.5% during the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 707.1% during the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 84,806 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $14,471,000 after purchasing an additional 74,298 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 45,947 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $7,840,000 after purchasing an additional 4,215 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 31,000 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $5,290,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. KeyCorp cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $232.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $215.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.68.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 37,723 shares in the company, valued at $6,948,576.60. This represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 569,422 shares of company stock worth $106,629,618 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:PANW traded down $2.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $196.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,429,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,988,031. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $188.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.94. The stock has a market cap of $131.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.30, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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 predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.