Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 9.9% in the first quarter, adding 115,967 shares to bring its total to 1,284,634 shares worth about $205.9 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 versus $0.79 expected and revenue of $3.0 billion versus $2.94 billion expected, while revenue rose 31.1% year over year.
• Analysts remain generally positive on PANW, with several raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus rating and average target price of $331.48.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,284,634 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 115,967 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.16% of Palo Alto Networks worth $205,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. lifted 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 last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted its stake 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, WHI TRUST Co LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $323.79 on Friday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $300.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $217.58. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $368.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.89 billion, a PE ratio of 265.40, a PEG ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. 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 predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Mizuho increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $340.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Scotiabank reaffirmed 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. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $331.48.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,598,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total transaction of $16,270,119.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Company 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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