Lawood & Co. Buys Shares of 6,097 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Lawood & Co. disclosed a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, buying 6,097 shares valued at about $1.123 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional interest in PANW remains strong, with several hedge funds and asset managers increasing holdings and institutions now owning about 79.82% of the stock.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: multiple firms raised price targets, and the consensus rating is Moderate Buy with a target of $214.98.

Lawood & Co. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,097 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,123,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% during the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

More Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $275 from $245 and reiterated an Outperform rating, signaling confidence that the stock can keep moving higher. Oppenheimer Hikes Palo Alto Networks Price Target to $275: CyberArk Becomes Idira, Identity Security Just Got Real
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada lifted its target to $255 from $220 and kept an Outperform rating, while Robert W. Baird also boosted its target to $265, reinforcing the bullish analyst tone around PANW. RBC raises price target on Palo Alto Networks to 255 from 220, keeps outperform rating
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target to $265 from $215 and highlighted Palo Alto’s identity-security push after CyberArk’s IMPACT26 conference, arguing that AI-driven threats are forcing more enterprise spending on automated security tools. Jefferies Hikes Palo Alto Networks Price Target to 265: AI Is Compressing Attack Timelines
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies and other commentary point to Palo Alto’s new “Idira” platform, which could broaden the company’s identity-security offering and create a new growth engine beyond its core cybersecurity business. Palo Alto advances AI-driven identity strategy with Idira launch, shares gain
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks noted that PANW is drawing unusual investor attention, but the piece was mainly a watchlist-style overview rather than a fresh catalyst. Is Most-Watched Stock Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) Worth Betting on Now?

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total value of $177,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 83,136 shares in the company, valued at $13,418,150.40. The trade was a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Daiwa Securities Group cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Argus raised Palo Alto Networks to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.98.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $242.83 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $245.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $174.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.27. The company has a market cap of $198.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 134.16, a PEG ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 0.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal 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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