Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Holdings Lifted by New England Research & Management Inc.

Key Points

• New England Research & Management Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 191.1% in Q2, acquiring an additional 4,377 shares, bringing their total to 6,668 shares valued at approximately $1.37 million.
• Institutional ownership of Palo Alto Networks stands at 79.82%, with significant increases from funds such as Nuveen LLC and GAMMA Investing LLC in recent quarters.
• Palo Alto Networks recently reported Q2 earnings of $0.95 per share, surpassing estimates, with revenue of $2.54 billion, reflecting a 15.8% year-over-year increase.

New England Research & Management Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 191.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,668 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 4,377 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $810,047,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 92.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,951,283 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,082,895,000 after acquiring an additional 2,862,718 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 18,802.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,410,290 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $411,292,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,539 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 77.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,688,432 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,008,788.94. This trade represents a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $128,940.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 37,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,948,576.60. The trade was a 1.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 569,422 shares of company stock valued at $106,629,618. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Twenty-eight 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.68.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $201.28 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $210.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.98. The firm has a market cap of $134.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 125.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PANW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.