Verition Fund Management LLC Has $24.17 Million Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Verition Fund Management cut its Palo Alto Networks stake by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, though it still held 131,238 shares worth about $24.17 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains bullish overall, with analysts issuing multiple raised price targets and a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”; the average target is $306.59.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 beating estimates and revenue rising 31.1% year over year to $3 billion, while insiders have also been selling shares recently.

Verition Fund Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 35.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,238 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 71,132 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $24,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $340.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Northland Securities raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and issued a $330.00 price target (up from $255.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $306.59.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $279.62 on Monday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $216.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.26. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $302.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.89 billion, a PE ratio of 229.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. 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, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, the director owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $3,490,500. This represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 81,044 shares of company stock valued at $20,424,722. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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