Patron Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Patron Partners LLC invested approximately $319,000 in Palo Alto Networks, acquiring 1,557 shares in the second quarter.
• A significant percentage of Palo Alto Networks stock, currently at 79.82%, is owned by institutional investors, reflecting strong institutional interest in the company.
• Several analysts have issued new target prices for Palo Alto Networks, with recommendations ranging from "buy" to "overweight," setting an average target of about $212.39.

Patron Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,557 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $319,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% in the first quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,410,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.4% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 161,840 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $33,119,000 after buying an additional 9,766 shares during the period. Finally, Avity Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.9% in the second quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 181,691 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $37,181,000 after buying an additional 49,971 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at $19,629,805.65. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total value of $23,081,119.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,008,788.94. This trade represents a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,415,030 shares of company stock valued at $279,198,494. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $202.21 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $189.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $210.39. The company has a market cap of $135.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 125.99, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $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, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $215.00 target price (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $212.39.

Palo Alto Networks 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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