LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Purchases 45,420 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 226.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,420 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises 1.1% of LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $165.05 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $134.68 billion, a PE ratio of 91.19, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average is $171.66 and its 200 day moving average is $190.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at $57,096,383.61. This trade represents a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 126,568 shares of company stock valued at $24,159,059. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Truist Financial set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.