Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Buys 12,019 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 13.8%, acquiring an additional 12,019 shares, bringing its total holdings to 98,891 shares valued at approximately $20.2 million.
• Insider trading activity is notable, with EVP Nir Zuk and CEO Nikesh Arora selling significant portions of their shares, resulting in a 3.08% and 75.48% decrease in their respective holdings.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong quarterly earnings, with a net revenue of $2.54 billion and an EPS of $0.95, surpassing analysts' estimates and showing a 15.8% year-over-year revenue growth.

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 13.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 98,891 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,019 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $20,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 58.9% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 224 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 46.8% in the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 232 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of PANW opened at $208.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $139.50 billion, a PE ratio of 129.94, a PEG ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $217.94. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $192.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.17.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $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. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $232.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $215.00 price objective (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 15th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.95.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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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