Dougherty & Associates LLC Invests $2.40 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Dougherty & Associates LLC initiated a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter, buying 13,045 shares worth about $2.4 million. The stake makes PANW its 13th-largest holding and about 2.1% of the portfolio.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with major firms like Vanguard, State Street, and Northern Trust all adding to their positions. Overall, 79.82% of Palo Alto Networks stock is owned by institutional investors.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly bullish: several firms raised price targets this week, including Oppenheimer to $275, RBC to $255, and Jefferies to $265. The company also reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS expectations and posting 14.9% revenue growth year over year.

Dougherty & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 13,045 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,403,000. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 2.1% of Dougherty & Associates LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $6,055,031,000 after purchasing an additional 505,924 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,532,902,000 after purchasing an additional 36,511 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,202,776,000 after purchasing an additional 611,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,356,617 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $802,691,000 after purchasing an additional 319,751 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $275 from $245 and reiterated an Outperform rating, signaling confidence that the stock can keep moving higher. Oppenheimer Hikes Palo Alto Networks Price Target to $275: CyberArk Becomes Idira, Identity Security Just Got Real
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada lifted its target to $255 from $220 and kept an Outperform rating, while Robert W. Baird also boosted its target to $265, reinforcing the bullish analyst tone around PANW. RBC raises price target on Palo Alto Networks to 255 from 220, keeps outperform rating
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target to $265 from $215 and highlighted Palo Alto’s identity-security push after CyberArk’s IMPACT26 conference, arguing that AI-driven threats are forcing more enterprise spending on automated security tools. Jefferies Hikes Palo Alto Networks Price Target to 265: AI Is Compressing Attack Timelines
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies and other commentary point to Palo Alto’s new “Idira” platform, which could broaden the company’s identity-security offering and create a new growth engine beyond its core cybersecurity business. Palo Alto advances AI-driven identity strategy with Idira launch, shares gain
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks noted that PANW is drawing unusual investor attention, but the piece was mainly a watchlist-style overview rather than a fresh catalyst. Is Most-Watched Stock Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) Worth Betting on Now?

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total value of $177,540.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 83,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,418,150.40. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,466,400. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. UBS Group set a $183.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.98.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $242.83 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.15 billion, a PE ratio of 134.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $245.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $174.81 and a 200-day moving average of $180.99.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.