Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Position Boosted by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 118,150 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $46,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $65,796,000 after buying an additional 53,485 shares during the last quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $2,159,000. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,453,000 after acquiring an additional 4,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 240,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $95,366,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $525.00 target price (up from $475.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Roth Capital restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.70, for a total value of $158,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 77,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,859,455.90. This represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total value of $10,769,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 117,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,110,900. The trade was a 18.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $346.95 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $432.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company’s 50-day moving average is $371.90 and its 200 day moving average is $303.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $283.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 680.31, a P/E/G ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.93.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.160-4.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc (NASDAQ:PANW) is a global cybersecurity company that helps organizations protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, and digital infrastructure. Its offerings are designed to prevent cyberattacks, identify security risks, monitor activity, and support incident response across enterprise, government, and service-provider environments.

The company’s portfolio includes network security products such as next-generation firewalls and security operations tools; Prisma, its cloud security platform; and Cortex, a suite focused on endpoint protection, threat detection, security analytics, and automated response.