Rathbones Group PLC Buys 84,915 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Rathbones Group increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 9.9%, purchasing 84,915 shares to hold 942,520 shares worth approximately $151.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $331.48; several analysts recently raised their targets to between $300 and $350.
• Palo Alto Networks exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.85 in adjusted EPS and $3.0 billion in revenue, up 31.1% year over year. However, insiders sold 101,239 shares worth $27.2 million over the past 90 days.

Rathbones Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 942,520 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 84,915 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC owned 0.12% of Palo Alto Networks worth $151,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $1,415,364,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,476,753 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,603,473,000 after buying an additional 3,101,267 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during 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 buying an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,665.1% during the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,761,909 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $442,788,000 after acquiring an additional 2,605,433 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 67.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 6,297,833 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,009,669,000 after acquiring an additional 2,528,299 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $330.00 target price (up from $255.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $331.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 79,644 shares in the company, valued at $27,477,180. This represents a 1.12% 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. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $331.83 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $270.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 271.99, a P/E/G ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $368.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $308.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.47.

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 for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company'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. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PANW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.