Venturi Wealth Management LLC Buys 10,097 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Venturi Wealth Management increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 48.6% in Q1, buying 10,097 additional shares to bring its total holdings to 30,877 shares valued at about $4.95 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 versus the $0.79 estimate and revenue of $3 billion, up 31.1% year over year. The company also raised guidance for FY 2026 and Q4 2026.
• Analyst sentiment remains bullish, with multiple firms raising price targets and the consensus rating sitting at “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $306.59. Shares were also trading near their 52-week high after rising 3.8% to $304.20.

Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 48.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,877 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 10,097 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on PANW. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $180.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $306.59.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.8%

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 market cap of $247.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 249.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.94. 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 fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $306.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company'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. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,490,500. The trade was a 37.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 106,389 shares of company stock worth $27,570,630 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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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