Northeast Investment Management Grows Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Northeast Investment Management increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 32.2% in Q2, bringing its total holdings to 131,441 shares valued at approximately $26.9 million.
• Institutional investors now own 79.82% of Palo Alto Networks' stock, with significant increases in holdings from firms like Nuveen LLC and Goldman Sachs.
• Palo Alto Networks has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with a target price of $216.60, as the company reported a 15.8% year-over-year increase in revenue for its last quarter.

Northeast Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 32.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,441 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 31,981 shares during the quarter. Northeast Investment Management's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $26,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $810,047,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at about $633,068,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after buying an additional 2,134,735 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 77.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,879,506 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $662,000,000 after buying an additional 1,688,432 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the first 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. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $216.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.92, for a total transaction of $25,594,426.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 149,190 shares in the company, valued at $31,616,344.80. This trade represents a 44.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock valued at $260,687,367. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $207.89 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $217.94. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $196.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $190.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.53, a PEG ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The business's quarterly 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

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