Ascentis Independent Advisors Grows Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Ascentis Independent Advisors boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83% in the first quarter, buying 5,475 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 12,068 shares worth about $1.94 million.
• Several other hedge funds also increased their positions, and institutional investors now own 79.82% of the cybersecurity company’s stock.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on PANW after strong quarterly results, with the company beating earnings and revenue estimates and Wall Street assigning a Moderate Buy consensus target of $317.78.

Ascentis Independent Advisors increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 83.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,068 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,475 shares during the quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors' holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position 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 worth $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 555 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 249 shares during 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 news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares in the company, valued at $27,477,180. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 102,111 shares of company stock worth $27,204,024. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating and set a $350.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $253.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $317.78.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $357.53 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $368.17. The company has a market cap of $291.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 293.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $201.50.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

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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