Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Purchased by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 93.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,719 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $293,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $10,712,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541,637 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,234,650,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,735 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,120,615,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 92.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,951,283 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,082,895,000 after acquiring an additional 2,862,718 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total value of $128,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,948,576.60. The trade was a 1.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 669,948 shares of company stock worth $126,552,277 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $187.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.10 billion, a PE ratio of 116.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $189.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.25. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced 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 company 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 firm’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $232.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on 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. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.52.

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.