Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Sells 20,912 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lessened its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 34.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,882 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 20,912 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 1.3% of Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $25,833,462,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $1,415,364,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,968,304,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,569,755,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,481,236,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark raised its price target to $400 from $340 and maintained a Buy rating, citing potential upside to next-generation security annual recurring revenue, revenue, operating income and margins. The forecast reinforces expectations that Palo Alto Networks’ AI-security strategy is gaining traction. Palo Alto Networks Gets a $400 Target
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are taking confidence from CrowdStrike’s stronger-than-expected results, which highlighted robust AI-related cybersecurity demand and lifted sentiment across the sector. Palo Alto Networks is viewed as a potential beneficiary of the same spending cycle. Palo Alto Networks Stock Trades Up
• Positive Sentiment: Platformization, adoption of AI-security products and recent deal wins are expected to support fourth-quarter growth. BTIG also assigned PANW a Buy rating, adding to broadly favorable analyst coverage. Palo Alto Networks to Report Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings are the next major catalyst. Traders expect potentially significant movement after the report, while analysts are watching recurring revenue, margins, operating income and guidance—not just revenue and EPS. Expected Post-Earnings Stock Move
• Negative Sentiment: Acquisition-related costs could pressure results, and the stock’s triple-digit P/E ratio—above 300 based on the supplied data—means much of the AI-growth outlook may already be reflected in the price. Any shortfall in growth or guidance could trigger profit-taking. Palo Alto’s Rally Has One Big Problem Ahead of Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Chief Accounting Officer Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares for approximately $318,000, reducing his position by 1.21%. The transaction is small relative to his remaining holdings but may create a modest sentiment headwind. Palo Alto Networks Insider Sale

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.77, for a total transaction of $318,393.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 73,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,950,444.58. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at $42,058,590. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,835 shares of company stock worth $11,127,854. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of PANW opened at $371.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $302.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 304.58, a PEG ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $344.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $248.45. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $398.88.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on PANW. New Street Research set a $415.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Guggenheim cut Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $320.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.42.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.