M1 Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

M1 Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 9.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. M1 Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,374 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 161,840 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $33,119,000 after acquiring an additional 9,766 shares during the period. Finally, Avity Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 181,691 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $37,181,000 after acquiring an additional 49,971 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price 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. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.95.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $215.17 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $217.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 134.06, a PEG ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.02.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $141,512.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 32,474 shares in the company, valued at $6,564,943.84. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.