Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 58.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,511 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,762 shares during the quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer singled out Palo Alto Networks as one of his favorite stocks, reinforcing a bullish narrative around the company and its role in cybersecurity. Jim Cramer Reveals Big Trend For Palo Alto’s (PANW) Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive after the company beat fiscal Q3 expectations, topped revenue estimates, and raised guidance, which continues to support the stock’s valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Several firms recently lifted their price targets on PANW, including Mizuho, Berenberg, JPMorgan, and Susquehanna, signaling continued confidence in growth and demand for cybersecurity products.
• Neutral Sentiment: A cybersecurity industry roundup highlighted PANW as a stock to watch, but it did not provide a major new catalyst. Cybersecurity Stocks To Keep An Eye On – June 10th
• Negative Sentiment: Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares, and Director Aparna Bawa sold multiple blocks of stock over June 10-12, which can be read as a cautious insider signal even if the sales were relatively small versus the company’s size. Insider Selling: Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Director Sells 377 Shares of Stock

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Scotiabank restated a “sector outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.59.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total transaction of $16,270,119.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $802,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at $24,103,105. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 81,044 shares of company stock valued at $20,424,722 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $279.62 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $216.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.22. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $302.95. The company has a market capitalization of $227.89 billion, a PE ratio of 229.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company 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 firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly 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. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

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.