SFE Investment Counsel Has $15.48 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

SFE Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,623 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,698 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 2.7% of SFE Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $15,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $28,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $212.29 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $223.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $207.16 and a 200-day moving average of $195.99. The company has a market capitalization of $142.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 0.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm 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%.The company’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company 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, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. UBS Group set a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total value of $153,979.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,449,674.85. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,160,428. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.