Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Increases Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 53,789 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 5,089 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $10,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% in the third quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Mattern Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the third quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. PTM Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the third quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% during the third quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 126,568 shares of company stock valued at $24,159,059. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Arete Research upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $165.10 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $171.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $190.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.22, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current 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.