Shell Asset Management Co. Increases Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,382 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,750 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $9,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $810,047,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $633,068,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after buying an additional 2,134,735 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 77.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,879,506 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $662,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,688,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $10,712,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541,637 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $212.58 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $213.85. The company has a market capitalization of $142.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.45, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $190.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.45.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Tigress Financial started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $232.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total value of $23,081,119.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,008,788.94. This trade represents a 40.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,194,356 shares of company stock worth $235,092,941. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

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.