SCS Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 48,388 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

SCS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 48,388 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,501,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $384.27 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $328.02 and a 200-day moving average of $235.34. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $398.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $313.18 billion, a PE ratio of 314.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. 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, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $340.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Loop Capital increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, FBN Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $339.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total transaction of $101,134.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,244,839.38. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,477,180. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360. Corporate 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.