Whalen Wealth Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 88.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,250 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,993 shares during the period. Whalen Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing 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 valued at $28,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.92, for a total transaction of $25,594,426.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 149,190 shares in the company, valued at $31,616,344.80. The trade was a 44.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of PANW opened at $221.38 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $202.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.93, a PEG ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.17.

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.