LGT Capital Partners LTD. Has $40.88 Million Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

LGT Capital Partners LTD. trimmed its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 221,933 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 45,483 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 2.0% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $40,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at $75,412,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,926,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $136,859,000 after purchasing an additional 384,985 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $277,828,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments Management Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% in the third quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 54,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,077,000 after purchasing an additional 15,091 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.1%

PANW opened at $266.33 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $302.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 218.30, a P/E/G ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PANW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective (up from $285.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total transaction of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,466,400. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total transaction of $313,588.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,272,790.88. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 72,076 shares of company stock valued at $17,930,587 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks 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.