Profund Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Profund Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,634 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 7,238 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.3% in the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 205,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $41,957,000 after buying an additional 41,392 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 39,893 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,164,000 after acquiring an additional 3,351 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $212.29 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $207.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.99. The firm has a market cap of $142.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 0.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. 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 report on Tuesday, August 19th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total transaction of $153,979.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,449,674.85. This represents a 1.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,160,428. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.