Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 93.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 901,261 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 435,416 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $307,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% during the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. This represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $340.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.76.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $359.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $316.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.25. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $376.98. The firm has a market cap of $292.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 294.66, a PEG ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.