Bridges Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Bridges Investment Management trimmed its Palo Alto Networks stake by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, but still held 674,387 shares worth about $124.2 million at the end of the period.
• Palo Alto Networks beat fiscal Q3 expectations, posting EPS of $0.85 on revenue of $3.0 billion, while revenue jumped 31.1% year over year.
• The company also raised full-year and Q4 guidance above Wall Street forecasts, and analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $238.23.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 674,387 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 12,935 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 1.6% of Bridges Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Bridges Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Palo Alto Networks worth $124,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% during the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Arete Research upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $238.23.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $297.18 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $302.95. The business's fifty day moving average price is $195.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.50 billion, a PE ratio of 164.19, a P/E/G ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The firm'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. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,466,400. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 94,760 shares of company stock valued at $21,660,063. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto Networks beat fiscal Q3 earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $0.85 versus $0.81 expected and revenue of $3.0 billion versus $2.94 billion estimated, with sales up 31.1% year over year. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised full-year and fourth-quarter guidance well above Wall Street forecasts, signaling stronger demand and better profitability ahead. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management said AI-driven security needs are boosting customer engagement, with CEO Nikesh Arora citing a surge in meeting requests as enterprises prepare for AI-related risks. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst notes were bullish ahead of and after the report, including price-target increases from JPMorgan and Baird, reinforcing confidence in the company’s growth outlook. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also completed its acquisition of Portkey, an AI gateway provider, which may support its Prisma AIRS platform and future AI-security offerings, but the immediate financial impact is still unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One insider sale by the company’s chief accounting officer may create a small headline overhang, though it was limited relative to the stock’s recent rally. Article Title

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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