Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 50,792 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,273,637 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 50,792 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $204,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Steph & Co. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total value of $101,134.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,244,839.38. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: PANW is benefiting from a broad cybersecurity rally, with buyers moving into the group after cooler-than-expected inflation data eased pressure on high-valuation tech stocks. CrowdStrike Climbs 11%, Palo Alto Rises 7% as Cybersecurity Stocks Rally on Cooling Inflation
• Positive Sentiment: IBM’s warning about “rapidly-evolving” cybersecurity concerns is also lifting sentiment across the sector, as it suggests more corporate demand for security tools and services. IBM Heads for Worst Day Ever — But Why Are Cybersecurity Stocks Up?
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer called Palo Alto Networks “unbelievable,” adding another bullish headline that can help support investor enthusiasm around the stock. Jim Cramer Reveals Why Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) Is “Unbelievable”
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles note that PANW has attracted heavy investor attention and has already delivered strong gains over the past year, which underscores momentum but does not add a new fundamental catalyst. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analyst-style coverage still points to higher integration costs and says Zscaler has the edge on valuation and Zero Trust adoption, which is more of a relative comparison than a direct blow to PANW. PANW vs. ZS: Which Cybersecurity Stock Has an Edge Right Now?

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 6.8%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $352.89 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $280.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $287.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 289.25, a P/E/G ratio of 12.26 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $368.17.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. The business’s 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. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PANW. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. FBN Securities restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.96.

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.