LGT Capital Partners LTD. Buys Shares of 122,800 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

LGT Capital Partners LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 122,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,130,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $10,712,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541,637 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,093,262,000 after purchasing an additional 169,055 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,177,765,000 after buying an additional 950,765 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $810,047,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $205.25 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 127.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $209.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.06.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total value of $153,979.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,449,674.85. This represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total transaction of $26,321,485.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 356,409 shares in the company, valued at $77,675,777.46. The trade was a 25.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,160,428 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Twenty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.52.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.