Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Sells 4,603 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Harbor Investment Advisory LLC cut its Palo Alto Networks stake by 61.9% in the first quarter, selling 4,603 shares and ending with 2,834 shares worth about $454,000.
• Despite the sale, institutional ownership remains high at 79.82%, and several other funds either added to or initiated positions in PANW during recent quarters.
• Analyst sentiment is bullish: Wells Fargo and BNP Paribas Exane both raised price targets, and the company also topped quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 31.1% year over year.

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lessened its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 61.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,834 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 4,603 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $65,796,000 after purchasing an additional 53,485 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $104,774,000 after purchasing an additional 29,230 shares in the last quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% in the first quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,453,000 after buying an additional 4,659 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $8,926,000 after buying an additional 3,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,554,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $420 from $325 and reiterated an overweight rating, reinforcing the case for further upside. Wells Fargo price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane lifted its target to $380 from $330 and maintained an outperform rating, adding to the bullish analyst sentiment around PANW. BNP Paribas Exane target raise
• Positive Sentiment: The stock remains a momentum name after gaining roughly 25% since its last earnings report, supported by strong demand for AI-related cybersecurity tools and recent trading interest. Zacks earnings momentum article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several insider sales were disclosed, including director Aparna Bawa and CAO Josh D. Paul. The transactions were relatively small, but insider selling can slightly temper investor enthusiasm. Insider sale disclosure

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on PANW. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $340.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 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, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $316.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 79,644 shares in the company, valued at $27,477,180. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, the director owned 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This represents a 37.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 102,111 shares of company stock worth $27,204,024. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $348.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $255.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $200.36. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $358.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $283.67 billion, a PE ratio of 285.30, a P/E/G ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued 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 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 the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

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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