Principle Wealth Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.6% in Q2, owning 28,656 shares valued at approximately $5.86 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong earnings with $0.95 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates and marking a 15.8% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company's stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $217.22 from analysts, following multiple upgrades from research firms.

Principle Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,656 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,512 shares during the quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. St. Clair Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,233,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% in the second quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 4,668 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, GSG Advisors LLC grew its position 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 worth $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $212.42 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $217.94. The stock has a market cap of $142.09 billion, a PE ratio of 132.35, a P/E/G ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 0.98. The stock's fifty day moving average is $199.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.31.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The business's 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. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock valued at $260,687,367. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. UBS Group set a $245.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $217.22.

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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