Trust Co. of Vermont Invests $69.43 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 203,595 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,430,000. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 2.6% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the fourth 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. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total value of $313,588.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 81,636 shares in the company, valued at $23,272,790.88. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.2%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $375.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $306.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 308.00, a P/E/G ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $398.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $330.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $237.05.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The business’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. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $340.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $475.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $342.61.

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.