AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 668,320 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 66.5% in Q1, now holding approximately 1.67 million shares valued at $280.14 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported Q1 earnings of $0.95 EPS, exceeding estimates, with revenue reaching $2.54 billion, a 15.8% increase year-over-year.
• Analysts have set an average price target of $211.68 for Palo Alto Networks, with the stock currently classified as a Moderate Buy based on extensive coverage.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 66.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,673,392 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 668,320 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.25% of Palo Alto Networks worth $280,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $31,000. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $33,000. SWAN Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 200 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 448,648 shares of company stock worth $83,548,499 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of PANW stock traded up $0.82 on Thursday, reaching $192.35. The company had a trading volume of 5,854,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,736,695. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.66 billion, a PE ratio of 119.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $210.39. The business's 50-day moving average is $188.46 and its 200 day moving average is $185.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) 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. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. 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 forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

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.