V Square Quantitative Management LLC Boosts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• V Square Quantitative Management increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 16% in the first quarter, ending with 21,120 shares worth about $3.39 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding 79.82% of PANW shares, while several other funds also added to or opened positions.
• Analysts remain bullish on Palo Alto Networks after strong quarterly results, with the stock getting a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $316.15; the company also beat earnings and revenue expectations in its latest report.

V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 16.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,120 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,910 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PANW. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $288,000. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 28.8% in the 1st quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 145,434 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $23,316,000 after acquiring an additional 32,512 shares during the period. Turn8 Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,709,000. Finally, WBH Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 52.1% in the 1st quarter. WBH Advisory Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total transaction of $101,134.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,244,839.38. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,477,180. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 102,111 shares of company stock valued at $27,204,024. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $253.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on 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 issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $316.15.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $348.06 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $358.10. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $258.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.39. The company has a market cap of $283.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 285.30, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. The firm's revenue 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, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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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