Goodman Advisory Group LLC Boosts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Goodman Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 35.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 36,165 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,383 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.8% of Goodman Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Goodman Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,290,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,589 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,093,262,000 after acquiring an additional 169,055 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,202,776,000 after acquiring an additional 611,375 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $916,099,000 after acquiring an additional 54,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $675,865,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $165.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.68 billion, a PE ratio of 91.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $223.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $171.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.15.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. 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. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 139,068 shares of company stock valued at $26,600,684 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 5th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group set a $183.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.19.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.