Americana Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Americana Partners LLC reduced its PANW stake by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 7,389 shares and leaving it with 43,189 shares worth about $7.96 million.
• Several other institutional investors increased their positions in Palo Alto Networks, and hedge funds and institutions still own 79.82% of the company’s shares.
• Analyst sentiment remains upbeat after recent price-target hikes from firms including Wells Fargo, Truist and BMO Capital Markets, while Palo Alto Networks also beat last quarter’s earnings and revenue estimates.

Americana Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,189 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 7,389 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.95, for a total transaction of $94,780.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 82,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,604,295.20. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 30,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,076,355 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on PANW to $285 from $235 and kept an overweight rating, signaling further upside potential for the cybersecurity leader.
• Positive Sentiment: Truist also boosted its price target ahead of results, reinforcing Wall Street’s improving view of Palo Alto Networks’ earnings and growth outlook. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Gets Major Price Target Boost from Truist Ahead of Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies said customers at the company’s Ignite On Tour event showed strong interest in PANW’s AI security offerings, with acquisitions Portkey and Koi Security attracting attention and little resistance to recent firewall price increases.
• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary continued to highlight cybersecurity as a durable budget priority, with Palo Alto Networks added to Josh Brown’s “best stocks” list alongside other leading security names.
• Neutral Sentiment: One article framed PANW’s strong year-to-date outperformance versus Palantir as a possible rebalancing candidate, but the piece was more about relative performance than a new company-specific catalyst. Palo Alto Networks Is Beating Palantir by 60% This Year. Is a Rebalancing Imminent?
• Neutral Sentiment: Company insider selling by CAO Josh D. Paul was disclosed, though the 400-share sale was relatively small versus his remaining holdings and does not by itself signal a major shift in fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary also pointed to rising AI security demand for products like Prisma AIRS and XSIAM, supporting the long-term growth narrative rather than changing near-term results.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $260.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.63 billion, a PE ratio of 143.97, a P/E/G ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $183.29 and a 200 day moving average of $182.32. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $261.41.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Arete Research raised Palo Alto Networks from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Capital One Financial increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $168.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $226.33.

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.

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