Reliant Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Reliant Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 34,020 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 3.0% of Reliant Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Reliant Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $41,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 58.9% during the first quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 224 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. UBS Group set a $245.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.22.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.92, for a total transaction of $25,594,426.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 149,190 shares in the company, valued at $31,616,344.80. This represents a 44.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $212.42 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.31. The stock has a market cap of $142.09 billion, a PE ratio of 132.35, a P/E/G ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $217.94.

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. 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.