Baxter Bros Inc. Grows Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Baxter Bros Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 38.5% in the first quarter, adding 2,898 shares to bring its total holding to 10,416 shares valued at about $1.67 million.
• Palo Alto Networks continues to attract broad institutional interest, with hedge funds and other investors owning 79.82% of the stock. Several major firms, including Vanguard and State Street, also boosted their positions.
• The company posted strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue expectations, and analysts remain mostly bullish after raising price targets. PANW also gave FY2026 guidance above current expectations, even as insiders sold shares in recent months.

Baxter Bros Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 38.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,416 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,898 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,587,100,000 after purchasing an additional 594,789 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,568,964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065,776 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,934,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the firm'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 of the company's stock, valued at $23,272,790.88. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $16,270,119.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. This trade represents a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 102,111 shares of company stock valued at $27,204,024 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $357.53 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average is $258.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.50. The company has a market capitalization of $291.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 293.06, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $368.17. 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 data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stephens increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $180.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $317.78.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.