Sei Investments Co. Raises Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 61% in the first quarter, buying 115,770 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 305,444 shares valued at about $49 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 beating estimates and revenue of $3 billion topping expectations, while revenue rose 31.1% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains upbeat, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average target price of $331.48.

Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 61.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 305,444 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 115,770 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $48,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $323.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $368.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 265.40, a PEG ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $300.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $217.58.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. 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. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total value of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total value of $101,134.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,244,839.38. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $340.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, FBN Securities reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. One equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $331.48.

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.

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