Baer Investment Advisory LLC Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Baer Investment Advisory opened a new position in Palo Alto Networks during Q1, buying 5,636 shares valued at about $904,000.
• Institutional interest in PANW remains strong, with several other funds increasing stakes and institutional investors now owning 79.82% of the company.
• Palo Alto Networks reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with $0.85 EPS and $3.0 billion in revenue, while analysts generally remain bullish with an average Moderate Buy rating and a target price of $316.15.

Baer Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 5,636 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $904,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $65,796,000 after buying an additional 53,485 shares during the period. Aviva PLC raised its position 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 worth $104,774,000 after acquiring an additional 29,230 shares during the last quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,659 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $8,926,000 after acquiring an additional 3,926 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,554,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total value of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total transaction of $310,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 79,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,477,180. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 102,111 shares of company stock valued at $27,204,024. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $348.06 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $358.10. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $258.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $201.39. The firm has a market cap of $283.67 billion, a PE ratio of 285.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $180.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped 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 note on Wednesday, June 3rd. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $316.15.

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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