Xponance LLC Purchases 12,184 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Xponance LLC increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 12,184 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 173,939 shares worth about $32.0 million.
• Insider selling was notable, with executives including CAO Josh D. Paul and EVP Lee Klarich selling shares; insiders have sold 72,076 shares over the last three months.
• Palo Alto Networks reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 and revenue of $3.0 billion, while analysts remain generally positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $306.59.

Xponance LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,939 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,184 shares during the period. Xponance LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $32,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Steph & Co. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total transaction of $177,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 83,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,418,150.40. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 72,076 shares of company stock worth $17,930,587 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank nudged its FY2027 EPS estimate higher for PANW, signaling modest confidence in longer-term earnings growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary on Prisma AIRS suggests AI security is gaining traction and could boost revenue growth and deal size.
• Positive Sentiment: Broader cybersecurity-sector coverage remains constructive, with analysts and institutions still favoring the group amid rising AI-related security demand.
• Neutral Sentiment: Northland Securities kept a $302 price target and Market Perform rating while issuing a range of earnings estimates, indicating a cautious but not bearish stance.
• Negative Sentiment: Northland also trimmed some near- and mid-term EPS forecasts for PANW, reflecting lingering concern about profitability assumptions and valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: PANW still trades at a demanding valuation, so any slowdown in AI-security momentum could increase volatility.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 6.2%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $279.53 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $302.95. The firm has a market cap of $227.82 billion, a PE ratio of 229.12, a P/E/G ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $214.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The business's revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $340.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group set a $300.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Benchmark increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $306.59.

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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