Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by Versor Investments LP

Versor Investments LP increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 30.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,345 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,953 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $810,047,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $633,068,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,234,650,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 77.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,879,506 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $662,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,688,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $10,712,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,637 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $220.24 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $204.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.30. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $147.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 137.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.98.

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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $141,512.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 32,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,564,943.84. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock valued at $243,407,367 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $232.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 15th. Bank of America upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.17.

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.