PDT Partners LLC Invests $3.21 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

PDT Partners LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 18,800 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,208,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $8,004,000 after buying an additional 23,586 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 152.0% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,240 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 3,764 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 125.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 2,243 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 1,249 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.52.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company'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 transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total value of $128,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,948,576.60. This trade represents a 1.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 569,422 shares of company stock worth $107,116,337. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $190.52 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $189.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.92. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $210.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.70, a PEG ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current 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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