Welch & Forbes LLC Buys 66,141 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Welch & Forbes LLC increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 28.2% in the first quarter, buying 66,141 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 300,564 shares valued at about $48.2 million.
• Several other institutional investors also made small or new purchases, and institutions now own 79.82% of Palo Alto Networks’ stock.
• Insiders have been selling shares recently, including director James J. Goetz and EVP Dipak Golechha, while analysts remain largely positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $318.65.

Welch & Forbes LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 28.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 300,564 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 66,141 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $48,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Steph & Co. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% during the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,598,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $12.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $325.91. The stock had a trading volume of 4,677,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,047,614. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $368.17. The business's 50-day moving average price is $274.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.64. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $265.62 billion, a PE ratio of 267.14, a P/E/G ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $340.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stephens increased 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 research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group set a $300.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $318.65.

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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