Divergent Planning LLC Invests $777,000 in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Divergent Planning LLC has acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. worth approximately $777,000 by purchasing 3,795 shares in the second quarter.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in Palo Alto Networks, with the company now being 79.82% owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Palo Alto Networks has received positive forecasts from multiple analysts, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.60 for its shares.

Divergent Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,795 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $777,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in 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 buying an additional 1,541,637 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $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 holdings 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 purchasing an additional 950,765 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $810,047,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,422,037 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $754,576,000 after buying an additional 219,111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $212.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler raised Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.60.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $141,512.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 32,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,564,943.84. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,315,130 shares of company stock valued at $260,687,367 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.9%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $211.82 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $217.94. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $197.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.00. The firm has a market cap of $141.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.98, a PEG ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for 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%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS 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.

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