LM Advisors LLC Makes New $7.43 Million Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

LM Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 21,871 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,431,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 0.9% of LM Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,833,462,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $1,415,364,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth about $1,569,755,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $1,481,236,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,476,753 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,603,473,000 after acquiring an additional 3,101,267 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $390.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $370.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Benchmark boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total value of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,598,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,490,500. The trade was a 37.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 37,935 shares of company stock valued at $10,809,461 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $358.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $337.38 and its 200 day moving average is $241.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $291.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 293.48, a PEG ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $398.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.