Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Key Points

• Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 19.1% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 20,848 shares valued at about $3.34 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive, with several analysts raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average target price of $323.98.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong quarterly results, including EPS of $0.85 versus $0.79 expected and revenue of $3.0 billion, while also raising FY2026 guidance.

Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 19.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,848 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,348 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Steph & Co. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $114.00 to $207.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, FBN Securities reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $323.98.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tigress Financial raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks from $245 to $430 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling strong upside confidence in the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Cybersecurity stocks, including PANW, are benefiting from reports that AI-driven security spending could support long-term growth as cyberattacks intensify. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: PANW also got a lift from a broader cybersecurity rally after IBM’s weak results and cybersecurity warning pushed investors toward security-focused software names. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary highlighted PANW as one of the cybersecurity stocks “riding the wave” from IBM’s earnings miss, reinforcing the sector-wide bid into defensive tech. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary from Jim Cramer and other market-watch articles called Palo Alto Networks “unbelievable” and noted strong year-to-date gains, but these pieces were more sentiment-driven than fundamental catalysts. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A Zacks comparison article argued Zscaler has an edge over PANW due to valuation and integration-cost concerns, but this appears to be a relative-valuation view rather than a direct negative catalyst. Article Title

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $354.02 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $288.53 billion, a PE ratio of 290.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.10 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $283.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.11. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $368.17.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. 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 predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,490,500. This trade represents a 37.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value 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. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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