LGT Group Foundation Purchases 76,918 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• LGT Group Foundation increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 57.3%, buying 76,918 shares to hold 211,194 shares worth about $43,675,000 per its latest 13F filing.
• Several other large institutions — including Norges Bank, ABN AMRO, Victory Capital and Vanguard — also added substantial positions, leaving institutional investors with roughly 79.82% ownership of the company (Vanguard alone holds ~65.27M shares).
• Palo Alto beat Q results with EPS $1.03 (vs. $0.94) and revenue of $2.59B (+14.9% YoY), set FY2026 EPS guidance of 3.650–3.700, and the stock trades near $165 with a consensus analyst rating of Moderate Buy and a $210.19 target.

LGT Group Foundation increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 57.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 211,194 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 76,918 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $43,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $675,865,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $340,883,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $502,263,000 after buying an additional 1,282,738 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $13,290,270,000 after buying an additional 1,253,589 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.9% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,104,939 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $430,755,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041,145 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on PANW shares. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Evercore upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Arete Research raised Palo Alto Networks from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $165.05 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The stock has a market cap of $134.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.78. The company's fifty day moving average is $171.66 and its 200-day moving average is $190.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 126,568 shares of company stock valued at $24,159,059 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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