Element Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Element Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 16,836 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,101,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 1.5% of Element Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $180.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.59.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $282.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $229.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 231.25, a PEG ratio of 10.39 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $302.95. The company’s fifty day moving average is $223.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.30.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. The business’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 forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This trade represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total value of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 101,044 shares of company stock worth $26,022,722 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.