CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Boosts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 53.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $65,796,000 after buying an additional 53,485 shares during the period. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $104,774,000 after acquiring an additional 29,230 shares during the period. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% during the first quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,453,000 after acquiring an additional 4,659 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,926,000 after acquiring an additional 3,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $1,554,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $348.06 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $358.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $258.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $283.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 285.30, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The business’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Northland Securities upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $222.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Friday, June 5th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Truist Financial increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.15.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This represents a 37.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total transaction of $101,134.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,244,839.38. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 102,111 shares of company stock valued at $27,204,024 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.