Wedbush Securities Inc. Sells 6,670 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Wedbush Securities reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 8.4%, selling 6,670 shares and retaining 72,999 shares valued at approximately $24.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly revenue of $3 billion, up 31.1% year over year, and exceeded EPS expectations. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $368.42.
• The stock traded near $371.59 but carries a very high valuation, including a P/E ratio above 300. Upcoming earnings will be closely watched for AI-security demand, recurring revenue, margins and guidance, with acquisition costs and elevated expectations posing downside risks.

Wedbush Securities Inc. decreased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,999 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 6,670 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 0.6% of Wedbush Securities Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Wedbush Securities Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $24,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% during the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Palo Alto Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark raised its price target to $400 from $340 and maintained a Buy rating, citing potential upside to next-generation security annual recurring revenue, revenue, operating income and margins. The forecast reinforces expectations that Palo Alto Networks’ AI-security strategy is gaining traction. Palo Alto Networks Gets a $400 Target
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are taking confidence from CrowdStrike’s stronger-than-expected results, which highlighted robust AI-related cybersecurity demand and lifted sentiment across the sector. Palo Alto Networks is viewed as a potential beneficiary of the same spending cycle. Palo Alto Networks Stock Trades Up
• Positive Sentiment: Platformization, adoption of AI-security products and recent deal wins are expected to support fourth-quarter growth. BTIG also assigned PANW a Buy rating, adding to broadly favorable analyst coverage. Palo Alto Networks to Report Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings are the next major catalyst. Traders expect potentially significant movement after the report, while analysts are watching recurring revenue, margins, operating income and guidance—not just revenue and EPS. Expected Post-Earnings Stock Move
• Negative Sentiment: Acquisition-related costs could pressure results, and the stock’s triple-digit P/E ratio—above 300 based on the supplied data—means much of the AI-growth outlook may already be reflected in the price. Any shortfall in growth or guidance could trigger profit-taking. Palo Alto’s Rally Has One Big Problem Ahead of Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Chief Accounting Officer Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares for approximately $318,000, reducing his position by 1.21%. The transaction is small relative to his remaining holdings but may create a modest sentiment headwind. Palo Alto Networks Insider Sale

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $371.59 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $398.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $344.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.45. The firm has a market cap of $302.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 304.58, a PEG ratio of 11.74 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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business 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, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $114.00 to $207.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $368.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total transaction of $101,134.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,244,839.38. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,835 shares of company stock valued at $11,127,854. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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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This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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