S&CO Inc. Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• S&CO Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 86,925 shares worth about $13.9 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted or initiated positions, and hedge funds and institutions now own 79.82% of the company’s shares.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on PANW: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $327.74, while recent quarter results beat expectations on both EPS and revenue.

S&CO Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,925 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 3,579 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 0.9% of S&CO Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. S&CO Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. True North Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $89,411,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 27.9% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,371,615 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $380,217,000 after purchasing an additional 516,715 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.6% during the first quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 2,772 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at $6,383,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $340.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $340.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $327.74.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $358.68 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $290.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.30. The company has a market capitalization of $292.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 294.00, a PEG ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $368.80.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company 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 earned $0.37 EPS. The firm's quarterly 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, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,598,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,477,180. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. 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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