Empirical Asset Management LLC Invests $1.81 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Empirical Asset Management purchased 5,304 Palo Alto Networks shares worth approximately $1.81 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $351.56; recent targets range as high as $421.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly adjusted EPS of $0.85, exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 31.1% year over year to $3 billion. Shares opened at $374.14, near their 12-month high of $398.88.

Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,304 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,809,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,833,462,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,587,100,000 after buying an additional 594,789 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,476,753 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,603,473,000 after buying an additional 3,101,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $2,934,935,000 after buying an additional 540,756 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total transaction of $310,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,477,180. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 100,839 shares of company stock valued at $27,079,580 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Capital One Financial set a $421.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $351.56.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $374.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $304.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 306.67, a P/E/G ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $398.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $332.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $238.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The business's revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. 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 predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current 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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