Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Purchases 3,978 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,733 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,978 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% during the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks News Summary

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. New Street Research lowered their price objective 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. HSBC cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $275.00 price target (up from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned 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.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $246.66 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $250.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $179.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.54. The company has a market cap of $201.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 136.28, a P/E/G ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 0.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,466,400. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575. 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.