Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC Invests $1.34 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Evolutionary Tree Capital Management acquired 8,382 Palo Alto Networks shares worth approximately $1.34 million, making PANW 2.5% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $331.48; individual targets range from $300 to $425.
• Palo Alto Networks exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.85 in EPS and $3 billion in revenue, up 31.1% year over year. However, insiders sold roughly $27.2 million worth of shares during the quarter.

Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,382 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,344,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 2.5% of Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,415,364,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 3,101,267 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,665.1% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,761,909 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $442,788,000 after purchasing an additional 2,605,433 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 67.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 6,297,833 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,009,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,528,299 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stephens boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $180.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $315.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Argus set a $425.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $331.48.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $331.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $308.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.24. The company has a market cap of $270.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 271.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 0.91. 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 $368.80.

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,037,002.95. This represents a 21.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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