Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Position Boosted by Waverly Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Waverly Advisors increased its Palo Alto Networks position by 25.1% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 126,130 shares valued at approximately $20.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Palo Alto Networks insiders sold 101,239 shares worth $27.2 million over the past 90 days, including sizable sales by Director James J. Goetz and EVP Lee Klarich.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations with adjusted EPS of $0.85 and revenue of $3 billion, up 31.1% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $331.48.

Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 25.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 126,130 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,343 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $20,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Alliance LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,697 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,986 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,601,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 326,158 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $52,290,000 after buying an additional 85,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 45,711 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $7,328,000 after buying an additional 7,843 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. This represents a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $323.79 on Monday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $300.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 265.40, a PEG ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.91. 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 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $368.80.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. The business'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. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Guggenheim cut Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $331.48.

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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