Convergence Investment Partners LLC Purchases New Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Convergence Investment Partners opened a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter, buying 12,721 shares valued at about $2.04 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with major holders like Vanguard, State Street, and Bank of America adding shares; overall, institutions own 79.82% of the company.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 beating estimates and revenue rising 31.1% year over year to $3 billion, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of $327.74.

Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 12,721 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,039,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $5,587,100,000 after purchasing an additional 594,789 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,568,964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065,776 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,934,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $1,415,364,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 5,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. This trade represents a 10.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total value of $101,134.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,244,839.38. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $348.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $284.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 285.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $292.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $255.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Northland Securities increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $421.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $327.74.

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.

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