CFO Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• CFO Capital Management disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Palo Alto Networks, buying 5,363 shares worth about $988,000.
• Institutional interest in PANW remains strong, with firms like Vanguard, State Street, Bank of America, and Geode adding to positions; overall, institutions own about 79.82% of the stock.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish after Palo Alto Networks’ latest results, with the company beating earnings and revenue estimates and several firms raising price targets; the consensus rating is Moderate Buy with an average target of $306.59.

CFO Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,363 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $988,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in 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. State Street Corp grew 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 purchasing an additional 594,789 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,568,964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065,776 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 540,756 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $1,415,364,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $330.00 target price (up from $255.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector outperform" rating and set a $320.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $300.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $306.59.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 536 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $150,080.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,157,120. This represents a 6.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $3,490,500. This trade represents a 37.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 101,044 shares of company stock worth $26,022,722. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $287.78 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average is $228.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $192.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $234.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 235.89, a P/E/G ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $302.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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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