Wealthfront Advisers LLC Acquires Shares of 98,573 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Wealthfront Advisers acquired 98,573 Palo Alto Networks shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $33.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW’s outstanding stock.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $351.56; individual targets range as high as $425.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly EPS of $0.85, exceeding the $0.79 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $3 billion and grew 31.1% year over year. However, insiders sold roughly $27.1 million of shares during the last quarter.

Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 98,573 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $33,615,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,058,590. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total transaction of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,898 shares in the company, valued at $2,045,721.30. This represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 100,839 shares of company stock worth $27,079,580. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Benchmark boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Argus set a $425.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $351.56.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $374.14 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $398.88. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $332.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $238.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $304.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 306.67, a PEG ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The business's revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ: PANW is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company's product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.

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