Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Raises Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,733 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,978 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $185.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $215.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,103,105. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of PANW opened at $246.66 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $250.00. The company has a market cap of $201.27 billion, a PE ratio of 136.28, a P/E/G ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a fifty day moving average of $179.63 and a 200 day moving average of $181.54.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $270 from $200 and kept an outperform rating, signaling confidence that the stock can continue higher. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley increased its target to $253 from $223 and maintained an overweight rating, adding to the cluster of bullish analyst calls. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus boosted its target to $275 from $185 and reiterated a buy rating, reinforcing expectations for further upside in PANW shares. The Fly
• Positive Sentiment: Truist Financial also raised its price target to $275 from $200 and kept a buy rating, indicating broad analyst enthusiasm for Palo Alto Networks’ growth outlook. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary about AI reshaping cybersecurity and articles highlighting PANW as a cybersecurity stock to watch support the long-term theme, but they do not appear to be immediate stock-moving catalysts. ETF Trends

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.