Leonteq Securities AG Invests $6.01 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Leonteq Securities AG disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Palo Alto Networks, buying 32,618 shares worth about $6.01 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with 79.82% of PANW shares held by institutions, and several other funds also added to or initiated positions in the stock.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly bullish: multiple analysts raised price targets, and the stock currently carries an average rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $225.16.

Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 32,618 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $6,008,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% during the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $185.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.16.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $270 from $200 and kept an outperform rating, signaling confidence that the stock can continue higher. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley increased its target to $253 from $223 and maintained an overweight rating, adding to the cluster of bullish analyst calls. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus boosted its target to $275 from $185 and reiterated a buy rating, reinforcing expectations for further upside in PANW shares. The Fly
• Positive Sentiment: Truist Financial also raised its price target to $275 from $200 and kept a buy rating, indicating broad analyst enthusiasm for Palo Alto Networks’ growth outlook. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary about AI reshaping cybersecurity and articles highlighting PANW as a cybersecurity stock to watch support the long-term theme, but they do not appear to be immediate stock-moving catalysts. ETF Trends

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total transaction of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,466,400. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.7%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $246.66 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $250.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.54. The company has a market capitalization of $201.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 136.28, a PEG ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 0.77.

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