DAVENPORT & Co LLC Reduces Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

DAVENPORT & Co LLC reduced its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 534,772 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 842 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $108,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the second quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 31,028 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,350,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $611,000. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 38.7% in the 2nd quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 1,817 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Three Bridge Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Three Bridge Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 36,971 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,997 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.0%

PANW stock opened at $207.19 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $138.59 billion, a PE ratio of 129.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $190.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.24. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $212.10.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued 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 business 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 for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business 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. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $141,512.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 32,474 shares in the company, valued at $6,564,943.84. This trade represents a 2.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,194,356 shares of company stock valued at $235,092,941. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PANW. New Street Research increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Tigress Financial initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. Thirty research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.64.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.