Ashford Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Ashford Capital Management acquired 33,471 Palo Alto Networks shares in the first quarter, valued at approximately $5.4 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.82% of PANW’s stock.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.48. Recent targets range as high as $420.
• Palo Alto Networks exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.85 in adjusted EPS versus $0.79 expected and $3.0 billion in revenue, up 31.1% year over year. Meanwhile, insiders sold 101,239 shares worth about $27.2 million over the past 90 days.

Ashford Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 33,471 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,366,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $65,796,000 after buying an additional 53,485 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $104,774,000 after acquiring an additional 29,230 shares during the period. B&D White Capital Company LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $353,000. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% in the first quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares during the period. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,926,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $340.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $255.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $331.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,037,002.95. This trade represents a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total transaction of $313,588.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 81,636 shares in the company, valued at $23,272,790.88. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $317.32 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current 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 $368.80. The company has a market cap of $258.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 260.10, a P/E/G ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $302.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $218.75.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $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. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current 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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