Nicholas Wealth LLC. Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Nicholas Wealth LLC opened a new position in Palo Alto Networks during Q1, buying 5,821 shares worth about $933,000.
• Several institutional investors remain heavily invested in the cybersecurity company, with hedge funds and other institutions owning about 79.82% of the stock.
• Palo Alto Networks recently reported strong results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, while analysts have generally turned more positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $306.59.

Nicholas Wealth LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,821 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $933,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $5,587,100,000 after acquiring an additional 594,789 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,568,964,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065,776 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 540,756 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,415,364,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total transaction of $16,270,119.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at $61,037,002.95. This trade represents a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the business'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 transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,598,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 106,389 shares of company stock valued at $27,570,630. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Scotiabank restated a "sector outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Northland Securities increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $345.00 price target (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $268.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $306.59.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $304.20 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $241.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.11. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $306.24. 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 $247.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 249.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 0.94.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $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. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal 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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