Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Sells 1,264 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC has reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.8%, now holding 15,002 shares valued at approximately $3.07 million.
• CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the company at an average price of $204.06, reducing his ownership by 75.48%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Palo Alto Networks, with a current average target price of $214.64.

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,002 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 1,264 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.4% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 161,840 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $33,119,000 after acquiring an additional 9,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avity Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 181,691 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $37,181,000 after acquiring an additional 49,971 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $212.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $142.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $213.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.45.

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, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. New Street Research boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. UBS Group set a $245.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.64.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were 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 $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total value of $23,081,119.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,008,788.94. The trade was a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,194,356 shares of company stock valued at $235,092,941 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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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