Quadrature Capital Ltd Buys New Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Quadrature Capital established a new position in Palo Alto Networks, buying 72,859 shares in Q3 worth about $14.8 million, and institutional investors now own 79.82% of the stock.
• Quarterly results beat expectations: Palo Alto reported $1.03 EPS versus $0.94 expected and $2.59 billion in revenue, up 14.9% year‑over‑year.
• Insider selling and analyst shifts: insiders sold 149,252 shares (~$27.9M) in the last 90 days (including 120,768 shares by EVP Lee Klarich), while analysts have trimmed price targets but maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $210.19 target.

Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 72,859 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $14,835,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $13,290,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,589 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,202,776,000 after acquiring an additional 611,375 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $916,099,000 after acquiring an additional 54,601 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,037,320 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $822,079,000 after purchasing an additional 17,394 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $675,865,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $168.06 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $137.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $170.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.59.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. New Street Research cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $190.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.19.

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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