Verition Fund Management LLC Has $24.17 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Verition Fund Management LLC lessened its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 35.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 131,238 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 71,132 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $24,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Steph & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (up from $255.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $340.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Capital One Financial increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $168.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Stephens lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $180.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.59.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $150,080.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,157,120. This trade represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total transaction of $16,270,119.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 81,044 shares of company stock valued at $20,424,722. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $279.62 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $227.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 229.20, a PEG ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $302.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $216.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.26.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next?generation firewalls as a core on?premises capability, alongside cloud?delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.