Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 169,055 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.28% of Palo Alto Networks worth $3,093,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% in the first quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.3% during the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 205,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $41,957,000 after acquiring an additional 41,392 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 39,893 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,164,000 after acquiring an additional 3,351 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total value of $23,081,119.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,008,788.94. This trade represents a 40.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock valued at $249,160,428. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Finally, New Street Research increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.67.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $218.27 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $208.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 135.99, a PEG ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The business’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. 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 EPS for the current year.

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.