Zhang Financial LLC Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Zhang Financial LLC opened a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter, buying 5,481 shares worth about $879,000.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 beating estimates and revenue of $3 billion topping forecasts, while revenue rose 31.1% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on PANW after recent target hikes from multiple firms, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $327.74.

Zhang Financial LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,481 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $879,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cooper Financial Group grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,227 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Outfitters Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Outfitters Financial LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $601,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 2,312 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC now owns 3,859 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of PANW opened at $358.68 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $368.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $290.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.30. The firm has a market cap of $292.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 294.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.91.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter 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. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $253.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Scotiabank reissued 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. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $327.74.

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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