MidFirst Bank Buys New Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 24,042 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th 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% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 536 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $150,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,157,120. The trade was a 6.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total value of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,598,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 101,044 shares of company stock worth $26,022,722 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (up from $255.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. New Street Research cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Arete Research raised Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.59.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.0%

PANW stock opened at $287.78 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $225.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.98. The company has a market capitalization of $234.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 235.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $302.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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.