EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 237,773 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• EP Wealth Advisors acquired 237,773 Palo Alto Networks shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $81.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW’s outstanding stock.
• Analysts maintain a broadly bullish outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $362.67; individual targets range as high as $415.
• Palo Alto Networks exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.85 in earnings per share on $3 billion in revenue, up 31.1% year over year. The stock opened at $358.04, while insiders sold 37,935 shares worth about $10.8 million during the last quarter.

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 237,773 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $81,085,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trilogy Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $725,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,197 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Outfitters Financial LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Outfitters Financial LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. New Street Research set a $415.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $362.67.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total transaction of $310,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,477,180. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total transaction of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,898 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. The trade was a 10.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 37,935 shares of company stock valued at $10,809,461 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $358.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $398.88. The stock has a market cap of $291.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 293.48, a PEG ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.91. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $337.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $241.72.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company's revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PANW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report).

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.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source