Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas Acquires 38,968 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 78.2% in Q4, buying 38,968 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 88,827 shares valued at about $16.36 million.
• Insiders have been selling shares recently, including EVP Lee Klarich and Director John P. Key, with 81,044 shares sold over the last 90 days worth roughly $20.4 million.
• Palo Alto Networks posted strong quarterly results, reporting EPS of $0.85 versus $0.79 expected and revenue of $3.0 billion, while analysts broadly maintain a Moderate Buy rating with an average price target of $306.59.

Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 78.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 88,827 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 38,968 shares during the quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas' holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $16,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the company's 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,037,002.95. This represents a 21.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,490,500. The trade was a 37.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 81,044 shares of company stock worth $20,424,722. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $284.54 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.90 billion, a PE ratio of 233.23, a PEG ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $218.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $302.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $268.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. DA Davidson raised their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Arete Research upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $306.59.

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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