M3 Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• M3 Wealth Management bought 13,512 Palo Alto Networks shares worth approximately $4.6 million, making PANW its 11th-largest holding at 3% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of the company.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish: analysts maintain an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a $339.61 price target, with several firms assigning targets between $320 and $420.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly EPS of $0.85 and revenue of $3 billion, both above expectations, while revenue grew 31.1% year over year. Shares opened at $384.27, near the company’s 12-month high of $398.88.

M3 Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 13,512 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,608,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 3.0% of M3 Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,587,100,000 after purchasing an additional 594,789 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $3,603,473,000 after purchasing an additional 3,101,267 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,934,935,000 after buying an additional 540,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,598,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total value of $313,588.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares in the company, valued at $23,272,790.88. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $340.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, FBN Securities reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $339.61.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $384.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $313.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 314.98, a PEG ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $398.88. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $328.02 and a 200 day moving average of $235.34.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The business 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 period last year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. 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 expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks 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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