KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases 9,100 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 280,542 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,100 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $57,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,095 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.4% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 10,283 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,731,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% during the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 16,504 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after purchasing an additional 4,479 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.64.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $141,512.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 32,474 shares in the company, valued at $6,564,943.84. This trade represents a 2.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,194,356 shares of company stock worth $235,092,941 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $212.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.19 billion, a PE ratio of 132.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $190.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.45. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $213.85.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.