Cetera Investment Advisers Purchases 15,870 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the first quarter, buying 15,870 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 431,878 shares valued at about $69.2 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.85 versus the $0.79 consensus and revenue of $3.0 billion, up 31.1% year over year. The company also issued FY 2026 guidance of $3.770-$3.790 EPS.
• Wall Street remains mostly bullish on PANW, with several firms raising price targets and the consensus rating sitting at “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $331.48. However, insiders have recently sold shares, including notable sales by directors James J. Goetz and John P. Key.

Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 431,878 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 15,870 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers owned 0.05% of Palo Alto Networks worth $69,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $325.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $265.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 266.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $368.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.83.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. The business'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. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group set a $300.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Capital One Financial set a $421.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $331.48.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $3,490,500. The trade was a 37.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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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