waypoint wealth counsel Makes New $286,000 Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

waypoint wealth counsel acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $10,712,019,000 after buying an additional 1,541,637 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,234,650,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,177,765,000 after purchasing an additional 950,765 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $810,047,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,422,037 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $754,576,000 after purchasing an additional 219,111 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at $543,199,564.80. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $208.55 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $217.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $192.94 and a 200-day moving average of $189.17.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Bank of America raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. New Street Research lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.95.

Palo Alto Networks 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.