QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases 6,329 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,667 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,329 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $16,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wallington Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC now owns 84,534 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $17,299,000 after buying an additional 2,116 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $909,000. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the second quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 102,838 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $21,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.0% during the second quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 178,496 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,527,000 after purchasing an additional 48,232 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 14.6% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.58, for a total transaction of $20,722,402.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 206,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,468,674.44. This trade represents a 36.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $141,512.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 32,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,564,943.84. This trade represents a 2.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $259,351,606. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $207.19 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.21. The company has a market capitalization of $138.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $212.10.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 target price (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $232.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.64.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.