Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA Acquires New Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Kelly Lawrence W & Associates acquired 64,860 Palo Alto Networks shares worth approximately $22.1 million, making PANW its fifth-largest portfolio holding at 4.7%. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.82% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $364. Recent targets range from $380 at BNP Paribas Exane to $475 at Wells Fargo.
• Palo Alto Networks beat quarterly estimates with adjusted EPS of $0.85 versus $0.79 expected and revenue of $3 billion, up 31.1% year over year. Shares recently opened at $350.90, while insiders sold roughly $10.8 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 64,860 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $22,119,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 4.7% of Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,833,462,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,415,364,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,569,755,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,481,236,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,476,753 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,603,473,000 after buying an additional 3,101,267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. FBN Securities restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $390.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $475.00 target price (up from $420.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $364.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total transaction of $310,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,477,180. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 37,935 shares of company stock worth $10,809,461 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $350.90 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $398.88. The business's fifty day moving average is $338.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $243.49. 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 firm has a market cap of $285.98 billion, a PE ratio of 287.62, a P/E/G ratio of 12.00 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $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 2.02 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PANW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report).

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.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source