Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $2.79 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 43.3% in the first quarter, ending with 17,417 shares valued at about $2.79 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong fiscal Q results, with EPS of $0.85 beating estimates and revenue of $3.0 billion topping expectations, while revenue grew 31.1% year over year.
• Wall Street remains constructive on PANW, with several analysts raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of about $306.59.

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 43.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,417 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,261 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Aviva PLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $104,774,000 after acquiring an additional 29,230 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,926,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $136,859,000 after purchasing an additional 384,985 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 54,401 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,077,000 after purchasing an additional 15,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $1,554,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $304.20 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $241.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $306.24. 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.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $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. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $253.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $306.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 345 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.17, for a total value of $100,108.65. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,359 shares in the company, valued at $2,135,361.03. This trade represents a 4.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,598,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 106,389 shares of company stock valued at $27,570,630 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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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