Webster Bank N. A. Buys 15,468 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1,530% in the first quarter, buying 15,468 additional shares and bringing its total position to 16,479 shares worth about $2.64 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 beating estimates and revenue of $3.0 billion topping expectations, while revenue rose 31.1% year over year.
• Analysts remain largely bullish: several firms raised price targets to as high as $355, and MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a $306.59 price target.

Webster Bank N. A. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 1,530.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,479 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,468 shares during the quarter. Webster Bank N. A.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Steph & Co. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th 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 bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.5%

PANW opened at $286.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $233.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 234.75, a PEG ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $302.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $230.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.37.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $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 anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,490,500. The trade was a 37.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total transaction of $16,270,119.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 101,389 shares of company stock valued at $26,122,830 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $315.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $306.59.

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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