4,600 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Purchased by Westmount Partners LLC

Key Points

• Westmount Partners LLC opened a new position in Palo Alto Networks, buying 4,600 shares worth about $737,000 in the first quarter.
• Other filings showed continued institutional interest, with several smaller investors adding stakes and 79.82% of PANW shares now held by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Insider activity has leaned toward selling, including director John P. Key and EVP Lee Klarich, while Wall Street remains broadly positive with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.59.

Westmount Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,600 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $737,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, the director owned 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,490,500. This trade represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. This trade represents a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 101,044 shares of company stock worth $26,022,722 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on PANW. Capital One Financial upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $168.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Guggenheim lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $315.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, FBN Securities restated an "outperform" rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $306.59.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $287.78 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 capitalization of $234.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 235.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 0.94. The company's 50 day moving average price is $228.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.65. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $302.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm 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 business's revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. 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. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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