Strategic Planning Group LLC Acquires 2,260 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Strategic Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.1%, owning a total of 46,184 shares valued at approximately $9.45 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Palo Alto Networks received favorable price targets from various analysts, with BMO Capital Markets raising its target from $217.00 to $225.00 and a consensus average target price of $212.39.
• Insider selling has been notable, with CAO Josh D. Paul and EVP Lee Klarich recently selling 700 and 120,774 shares respectively, indicating a decrease in their holdings.

Strategic Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,184 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,260 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.5% of Strategic Planning Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Strategic Planning Group LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $9,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. SWAN Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 200 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on PANW. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.39.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total transaction of $23,081,119.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,954 shares in the company, valued at $34,008,788.94. This represents a 40.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 563,622 shares of company stock worth $105,459,528 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of PANW opened at $208.19 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $139.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $188.60 and a 200 day moving average of $186.59. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $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. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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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