Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by Spirepoint Private Client LLC

Key Points

• Spirepoint Private Client LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, acquiring an additional 1,442 shares in Q2, bringing their total to 58,962 shares valued at approximately $12 million.
• Major institutional investors such as Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs significantly boosted their stakes in Palo Alto Networks, with Vanguard increasing its position by 2.5% and Goldman Sachs by 41.9% during Q1.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a Q4 earnings per share of $0.95, exceeding estimates, and experienced a 15.8% year-over-year revenue growth, reflecting strong demand for its cybersecurity solutions.

Spirepoint Private Client LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,962 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 1.4% of Spirepoint Private Client LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Spirepoint Private Client LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $810,047,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,422,037 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $754,576,000 after purchasing an additional 219,111 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Tigress Financial assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday. They set a "buy" rating and a $245.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp cut Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $232.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total transaction of $23,081,119.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,954 shares in the company, valued at $34,008,788.94. The trade was a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,415,030 shares of company stock valued at $279,198,494 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.1%

PANW stock opened at $202.37 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $189.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.34. The stock has a market cap of $135.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.09, a PEG ratio of 4.81 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm's revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts anticipate 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.

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