Root Financial Partners LLC Acquires 2,018 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Root Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 256.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,018 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $516,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cercano Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.6% in the 4th quarter. Cercano Management LLC now owns 190,830 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $35,151,000 after purchasing an additional 94,740 shares during the period. COFG Advisors LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $263,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 135,987 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,049,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. Sage Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $311,000. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 30,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,600,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total transaction of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,466,400. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total transaction of $313,588.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 81,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,272,790.88. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 94,760 shares of company stock valued at $21,660,063 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto Networks beat fiscal Q3 earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $0.85 versus $0.81 expected and revenue of $3.0 billion versus $2.94 billion estimated, with sales up 31.1% year over year. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised full-year and fourth-quarter guidance well above Wall Street forecasts, signaling stronger demand and better profitability ahead. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management said AI-driven security needs are boosting customer engagement, with CEO Nikesh Arora citing a surge in meeting requests as enterprises prepare for AI-related risks. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst notes were bullish ahead of and after the report, including price-target increases from JPMorgan and Baird, reinforcing confidence in the company’s growth outlook. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also completed its acquisition of Portkey, an AI gateway provider, which may support its Prisma AIRS platform and future AI-security offerings, but the immediate financial impact is still unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One insider sale by the company’s chief accounting officer may create a small headline overhang, though it was limited relative to the stock’s recent rally. Article Title

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $297.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $195.20 and a 200-day moving average of $184.31. The company has a market cap of $242.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 164.19, a P/E/G ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $302.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. The firm’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. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on PANW. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.23.

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.