Kestra Advisory Services LLC Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.9% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 157,284 shares valued at about $25.2 million.
• Several other hedge funds also boosted their positions, and institutional investors now own 79.82% of the company, showing continued strong institutional interest.
• Palo Alto Networks reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with $0.85 EPS and $3 billion in revenue, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $318.65.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 157,284 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,112 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $25,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.8% in the first quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 14,699 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,357,000 after buying an additional 1,314 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.3% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,248,434 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $360,469,000 after buying an additional 171,808 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 18.9% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 256,171 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $40,776,000 after buying an additional 40,694 shares during the last quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 44.5% in the 1st quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich now owns 305,576 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $48,990,000 after acquiring an additional 94,128 shares during the period. Finally, Capstone Capital Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.8% in the 1st quarter. Capstone Capital Management Ltd now owns 15,583 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,498,000 after acquiring an additional 11,089 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total value of $5,598,000.00. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total transaction of $101,134.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,244,839.38. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $12.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $325.91. 4,677,069 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,047,614. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $274.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.64. The stock has a market cap of $265.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 267.14, a PEG ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $368.17. 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 issued its 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 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 company's revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. Wedbush lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays restated 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. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $340.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $318.65.

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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