Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 433,901 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,006 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $88,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,290,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,589 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,093,262,000 after buying an additional 169,055 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,295,588 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,083,689,000 after buying an additional 377,496 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $916,099,000 after buying an additional 54,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $675,865,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $149.40 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $190.82. The company has a market cap of $121.91 billion, a PE ratio of 82.54, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.75. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.