Vontobel Holding Ltd. Buys 228,610 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.6%, acquiring an additional 228,610 shares during the 2nd quarter, bringing its total ownership to approximately $89.8 million.
• Several other institutional investors have also increased their positions in Palo Alto Networks, contributing to institutional ownership of about 79.82% of the company's stock.
• Executives Dipak Golechha and Lee Klarich have sold significant amounts of Palo Alto Networks shares, with combined sales in the last three months worth over $260 million.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 108.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 439,037 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 228,610 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Palo Alto Networks worth $89,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% in the first quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.4% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 161,840 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $33,119,000 after purchasing an additional 9,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avity Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.9% in the second quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 181,691 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $37,181,000 after purchasing an additional 49,971 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.92, for a total value of $25,594,426.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 149,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,616,344.80. This trade represents a 44.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $217.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 135.69, a PEG ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $217.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $191.40 and a 200-day moving average of $188.81.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on PANW. Piper Sandler raised Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. KeyCorp downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $215.00 target price (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.95.

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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