Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Bought by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 13.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,880 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $810,047,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,120,615,000 after buying an additional 3,047,625 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 92.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,951,283 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,082,895,000 after acquiring an additional 2,862,718 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 18,802.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,410,290 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $411,292,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 569,422 shares of company stock worth $106,629,618 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $197.33 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $131.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $210.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $188.20 and a 200-day moving average of $185.83.

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 firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.68.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.