Encore Global Management LP Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Encore Global Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 25,550 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,096,000. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 2.9% of Encore Global Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% during the fourth 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. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.48.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,898 shares in the company, valued at $2,045,721.30. This represents a 10.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $319.00 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $259.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 261.48, a PEG ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $303.77 and its 200 day moving average is $219.63. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $368.80.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS 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.