Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Holdings Increased by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Key Points

• Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 6.9% in Q1, adding 11,389 shares to reach 177,230 shares valued at about $28.4 million.
• Other large institutional investors also boosted or initiated positions, and institutional ownership stands at 79.82% of the company’s stock.
• Palo Alto Networks posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 and revenue of $3.0 billion, both above estimates; analysts remain bullish with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $306.59.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 6.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 177,230 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,389 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 0.8% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $28,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the fourth 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 lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 594,789 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,568,964,000 after buying an additional 2,065,776 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,415,364,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Arete Research upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $253.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, FBN Securities restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two research 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 given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $306.59.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $304.20 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $306.24. 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 company has a market capitalization of $247.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 249.34, a PEG ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $241.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.11.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $3 billion during 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total transaction of $313,588.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,272,790.88. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 106,389 shares of company stock valued at $27,570,630 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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