GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 1,628 shares for a total ownership of 15,753 shares, valued at approximately $3,224,000.
• Major analysts' ratings for Palo Alto Networks reflect optimism, with price targets ranging from $212.00 to $225.00, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" based on 29 Buy, 11 Hold, and 2 Sell opinions.
• In the latest earnings report, Palo Alto Networks reported $2.54 billion in revenue, exceeding estimates, alongside an EPS of $0.95, which was higher than the expected $0.89.

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 11.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,753 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,628 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $810,047,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $633,068,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 77.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,879,506 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $662,000,000 after buying an additional 1,688,432 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $10,712,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,637 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total value of $128,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,948,576.60. This trade represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total transaction of $23,081,119.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,008,788.94. The trade was a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 563,622 shares of company stock valued at $105,459,528 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Twenty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.39.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $208.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,465,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,548,172. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $188.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.71, a PEG ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.