Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

Key Points

• CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 53.2% in the first quarter, buying 25,000 additional shares to bring its total to 72,000 shares worth about $11.5 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with 79.82% of PANW shares held by institutions and hedge funds. Several large firms, including Vanguard, State Street, and Bank of America, also raised their positions recently.
• Palo Alto Networks posted strong quarterly results, reporting EPS of $0.85 and revenue of $3.0 billion, both above analyst estimates. The company also raised guidance for FY 2026, while analysts currently maintain a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy.”

CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 53.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,000 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares during the quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,587,100,000 after buying an additional 594,789 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,568,964,000 after buying an additional 2,065,776 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,934,935,000 after buying an additional 540,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total transaction of $310,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 79,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,477,180. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 102,111 shares of company stock valued at $27,204,024 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $114.00 to $207.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Northland Securities boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $345.00 price target (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Arete Research lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $185.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. One equities research 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 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 price target of $316.15.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $348.06 on Monday. The company's 50-day moving average is $258.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.50. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $358.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $283.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 285.30, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The business's revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm 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. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current 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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