Blue Chip Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Blue Chip Partners acquired 55,006 shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter, valued at approximately $8.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Wall Street sentiment remains favorable, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $331.48; several analysts recently raised their targets.
• Palo Alto Networks beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $0.85 in EPS and $3.0 billion in revenue, up 31.1% year over year. However, insiders have sold more than $27.2 million of stock over the past quarter.

Blue Chip Partners LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 55,006 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $8,819,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during 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 buying an additional 594,789 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,568,964,000 after buying an additional 2,065,776 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 540,756 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,415,364,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings cut Palo Alto Networks from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (up from $255.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $340.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $331.48.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,477,180. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,058,590. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $323.79 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.89 billion, a PE ratio of 265.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's 50-day moving average is $300.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.83. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $368.80.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. 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. 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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