VestGen Investment Management Raises Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

VestGen Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,462 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. VestGen Investment Management’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $10,712,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541,637 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,735 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,177,765,000 after purchasing an additional 950,765 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $810,047,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,422,037 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $754,576,000 after purchasing an additional 219,111 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Tigress Financial started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price target for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.22.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,315,130 shares of company stock valued at $260,687,367 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $217.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $200.79 and a 200 day moving average of $192.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 135.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $218.23.

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. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.