Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Cerity Partners LLC boosted its Palo Alto Networks stake by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 949,186 shares valued at about $174.8 million.
• Palo Alto Networks beat earnings and revenue expectations in its latest quarter, posting $0.85 EPS on $3.0 billion in revenue, with revenue up 31.1% year over year.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive, with several analysts raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a target price of $306.59.

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 949,186 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 48,252 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Palo Alto Networks worth $174,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $266.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $207.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.93. 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 stock has a market cap of $217.06 billion, a PE ratio of 218.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $302.95.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks'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 analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total transaction of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,466,400. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the company'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 owned 235,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. This represents a 21.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 72,076 shares of company stock valued at $17,930,587 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $255.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $306.59.

About Palo Alto Networks

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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