Groupe la Francaise Purchases 50,952 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 24.8% in the first quarter, purchasing 50,952 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 256,415 shares valued at approximately $40 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly revenue of $3 billion, up 31.1% year over year, and earnings of $0.85 per share, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $0.79.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $331.48, while insider selling totaled 101,239 shares worth about $27.2 million over the latest quarter.

Groupe la Francaise lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 24.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 256,415 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 50,952 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $39,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 12.9% in the first quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 19,899 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,190,000 after acquiring an additional 2,278 shares in the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 18.7% during the first quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34.9% during the 1st quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 1,211 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,454 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,279,000 after purchasing an additional 5,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 2,566 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $325.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $306.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.46. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $368.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $265.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 266.95, a P/E/G ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.91.

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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related 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 value of $5,598,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 directly owned 79,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,477,180. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. UBS Group set a $300.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BTIG Research raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $331.48.

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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