Waverly Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Waverly Advisors LLC reduced its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 24.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,594 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 30,536 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $32,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $65,796,000 after buying an additional 53,485 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $104,774,000 after acquiring an additional 29,230 shares during the period. B&D White Capital Company LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $2,159,000. Finally, Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% during the 1st quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after acquiring an additional 4,659 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Northland Securities set a $360.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $404.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded up $3.72 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $336.98. 6,122,994 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,561,149. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $398.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $350.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $257.94. The company has a market capitalization of $274.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 660.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.62 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.160-4.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total transaction of $242,795.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. This represents a 10.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total transaction of $101,134.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 38,635 shares of company stock valued at $11,150,578 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.