Hartline Investment Corp Sells 16,162 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Hartline Investment Corp cut its Palo Alto Networks stake by 44.6% in the first quarter, selling 16,162 shares and leaving it with 20,056 shares valued at about $3.2 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 and revenue of $3.0 billion, both above analyst expectations, while revenue rose 31.1% year over year.
• Despite insider sales and a recent 5.7% stock drop, Wall Street remains upbeat: several firms raised price targets, and the consensus rating is Moderate Buy with an average target of $317.78.

Hartline Investment Corp decreased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 44.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,056 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 16,162 shares during the quarter. Hartline Investment Corp's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 53,485 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $104,774,000 after acquiring an additional 29,230 shares in the last quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,659 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $8,926,000 after acquiring an additional 3,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,554,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Wedbush raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Northland Securities increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $222.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Friday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $317.78.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 5.7%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $337.04 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $368.17. The company has a market cap of $274.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 276.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $265.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $203.79. 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 posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business 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. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total transaction of $313,588.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,272,790.88. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 100,539 shares of company stock worth $26,931,565. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Needham raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350 to $425 and kept a buy rating, signaling confidence in additional upside from current levels. Benzinga report on Needham price target increase
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG recently lifted its target from $333 to $380, maintained a buy rating, and kept PANW as a top pick, citing improving business momentum and strong demand for AI-driven security solutions. BTIG raised PT on Palo Alto (PANW), Here’s Why
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo also raised its price target on the stock, adding to a wave of favorable analyst commentary that has been supporting the share price. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Stock Trades Up, Here Is Why
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles highlighted PANW’s strong six-month rally and its position as an “agentic AI” and high-growth cybersecurity stock, reinforcing positive sentiment but not adding new fundamentals. Palo Alto (PANW) Up More than 96% Over The Past 6 Months
• Negative Sentiment: Some Seeking Alpha pieces argued the stock’s valuation has become stretched and warned that the recent re-rating may have gone too far, which could temper enthusiasm after the sharp run-up. Extreme Exuberance Is A Warning Sign

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.

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.