Avanza Fonder AB Grows Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Avanza Fonder AB increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4%, now owning 43,866 shares valued at approximately $8.98 million.
• Palo Alto Networks received multiple upgrade recommendations from analysts, with target prices ranging from $212 to $230, indicating a strong market outlook.
• During the last three months, company insiders sold 568,622 shares of Palo Alto Networks, totaling more than $106 million in value, reflecting significant insider activity.

Avanza Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,866 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,239 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, SWAN Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 200 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded up $2.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $208.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,643,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,548,172. The company has a market capitalization of $139.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.98. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $188.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.59. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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 fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total transaction of $19,866,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,243,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,356,888.56. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total transaction of $128,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,723 shares in the company, valued at $6,948,576.60. This trade represents a 1.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 568,622 shares of company stock worth $106,468,778. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. New Street Research lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. 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. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Twenty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.39.

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.