Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Has $2 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC cut its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,774 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 198 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,000,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 12,657 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,590,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $249,000. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 26,839 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,169,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,205,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 28.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 324,055 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $66,315,000 after acquiring an additional 72,559 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at $543,199,564.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $259,351,606. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $207.19 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $212.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $190.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.20. The company has a market capitalization of $138.59 billion, a PE ratio of 129.09, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Piper Sandler raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.64.

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.