AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Invests $4.16 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 24,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,159,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,004,000 after buying an additional 23,586 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the 4th 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. Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $257,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $198.33 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $210.39. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $188.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 123.57, a PEG ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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 predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,008,788.94. The trade was a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 569,422 shares of company stock valued at $106,629,618 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.