QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases 11,888 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 16.1% in the first quarter, buying 11,888 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 85,840 shares worth about $13.76 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on PANW, with an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $316.15, while several firms recently raised their targets significantly.
• Palo Alto Networks beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.85 EPS on $3.0 billion in revenue, and the stock has climbed near its 52-week high following the strong results and upbeat guidance.

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 16.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 85,840 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 11,888 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% during the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Arete Research lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $185.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Capital One Financial increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $168.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $316.15.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,598,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 79,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,477,180. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 102,111 shares of company stock worth $27,204,024 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $348.06 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $358.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $283.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 285.30, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $201.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ: PANW is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company's product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.

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