Independent Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 25,821 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Independent Financial Group LLC opened a new position in Palo Alto Networks, buying 25,821 shares in the first quarter worth about $4.14 million.
• Several hedge funds also increased their stakes, while insiders have been selling shares; over the last 90 days, insiders sold 101,239 shares worth about $27.2 million.
• Wall Street remains bullish on PANW after strong earnings: the company beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, and analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus with a price target of $327.74.

Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,821 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,140,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cooper Financial Group lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,227 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Outfitters Financial LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Outfitters Financial LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $601,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 2,312 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the third quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC now owns 3,859 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $786,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This trade 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 have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $345.00 price target (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group set a $300.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $327.74.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $358.68 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $290.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.30. The company has a market cap of $292.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 294.00, a PEG ratio of 13.14 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 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $368.80.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. The business's quarterly 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, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

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.

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