Align Financial LLC Buys Shares of 103,889 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Align Financial LLC opened a new position in Palo Alto Networks, buying 103,889 shares worth about $19.1 million in the fourth quarter.
• Other institutional investors were also active in PANW, and hedge funds now own 79.82% of the stock, highlighting continued strong institutional interest.
• Palo Alto Networks reported better-than-expected quarterly results with EPS of $0.85 on revenue of $3 billion, while analysts largely remain bullish with an average Moderate Buy rating and a $306.59 target price.

Align Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 103,889 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $19,136,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Aviva PLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $104,774,000 after purchasing an additional 29,230 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $75,412,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,926,000 after buying an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $136,859,000 after buying an additional 384,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $277,828,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 536 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $150,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,704 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,157,120. This represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This represents a 37.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 101,044 shares of company stock valued at $26,022,722. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.8%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $282.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 231.25, a P/E/G ratio of 10.39 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.30. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $302.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $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 analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PANW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $253.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $306.59.

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.

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