Brookstone Capital Management Acquires 68,519 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 80.1% in the first quarter, adding 68,519 shares to bring its total holdings to 154,065 shares worth about $24.7 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $0.85 beating estimates and revenue of $3.0 billion topping analyst forecasts, up 31.1% year over year.
• Analysts remain largely bullish on the stock, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $306.59; the shares recently traded near $287.78.

Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 80.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 154,065 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 68,519 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $24,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,415,364,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,065,776 shares during the period. Employees Provident Fund Board purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $281,542,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $502,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282,738 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $287.78 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.54 billion, a PE ratio of 235.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 0.94. The business's 50-day moving average price is $228.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $192.69. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $302.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $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 forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $802,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. This represents a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 101,044 shares of company stock worth $26,022,722. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $180.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $222.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $306.59.

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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