Howard Financial Services LTD. Has $1.30 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $180.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $340.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.57.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 5.5%

PANW opened at $366.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $368.80. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $311.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $298.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 300.28, a PEG ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. 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 predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,898 shares in the company, valued at $2,045,721.30. The trade was a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.