Prudential PLC Buys 11,798 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Prudential PLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 16.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 85,293 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,798 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $17,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. PFG Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 5,604 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 180.4% during the 1st quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 9,329 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after buying an additional 6,002 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total transaction of $26,321,485.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 356,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,675,777.46. This trade represents a 25.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total value of $153,979.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,449,674.85. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock worth $249,031,488 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. TD Cowen increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Twenty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.22.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $199.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.55, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $223.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $209.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.43.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-3.900 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 0.930-0.950 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.