KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Increases Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 280,542 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying 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 quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. St. Clair Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the second quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 4,668 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the first quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.6%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $212.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $142.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.45, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $190.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. 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 analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,629,805.65. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total transaction of $23,081,119.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,008,788.94. This trade represents a 40.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,194,356 shares of company stock valued at $235,092,941 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 report on Tuesday, September 2nd. New Street Research boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Bank of America raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.64.

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.