Greenwood Gearhart LLC Boosts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Greenwood Gearhart LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 53.4% in the first quarter, adding 29,245 shares to bring its total to 84,030 shares worth about $13.47 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 beating estimates and revenue of $3 billion topping expectations, while revenue rose 31.1% year over year.
• Despite the solid performance and upbeat analyst sentiment, insiders have sold shares recently, including director James J. Goetz and CAO Josh D. Paul, with analysts still rating the stock a Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $327.74.

Greenwood Gearhart LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 53.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,030 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,245 shares during the quarter. Greenwood Gearhart LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Steph & Co. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth 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 period. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% during the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $358.68 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $290.04 and a 200 day moving average of $212.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $292.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 294.00, a P/E/G ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $368.80. 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 (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total value of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total value of $313,588.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 81,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,272,790.88. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. DA Davidson raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $327.74.

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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