Westmount Partners LLC Takes $737,000 Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Westmount Partners LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 4,600 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $737,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Steph & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC grew 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 valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC grew 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $287.78 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $302.95. The stock has a market cap of $234.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 235.89, a PEG ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $228.24 and a 200-day moving average of $192.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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 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 company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. The firm’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 research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora acquired 68,085 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. This trade represents a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 101,044 shares of company stock valued at $26,022,722 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.