Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Holdings Lifted by State of Wisconsin Investment Board

Key Points

• State of Wisconsin Investment Board increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 369,914 shares valued at about $68.1 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 versus $0.79 expected and revenue of $3.0 billion versus $2.94 billion expected, while revenue rose 31.1% year over year.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with several analysts raising price targets; the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $306.59, even as insiders sold shares in recent months.

State of Wisconsin Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 369,914 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 19,557 shares during the quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board owned 0.05% of Palo Alto Networks worth $68,138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Steph & Co. lifted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the fourth 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, Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total transaction of $16,270,119.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,037,002.95. This trade represents a 21.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, 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 three months, insiders sold 101,044 shares of company stock worth $26,022,722. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $279.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $221.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.62. The company has a market cap of $228.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 229.43, a P/E/G ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $302.95.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business 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. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector outperform" rating and set a $320.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Northland Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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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