Close Asset Management Ltd Sells 22,662 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Close Asset Management Ltd decreased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 136,779 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 22,662 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $27,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 176 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. New Street Research cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.62.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.1%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $149.40 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The company has a market capitalization of $121.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.54, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $175.36 and its 200 day moving average is $190.82.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,096,383.61. This trade represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995. Company 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.