Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC cut its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 93.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,026 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 14,315 shares during the quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Scotiabank restated a “sector outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Arete Research lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $185.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, FBN Securities reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $3,490,500. This trade represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $363.86 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $317.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $228.49. The company has a market cap of $296.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 298.25, a PEG ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $376.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.