Wormser Freres Gestion Boosts Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Wormser Freres Gestion lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1,394.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 18,156 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 2.1% of Wormser Freres Gestion’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Wormser Freres Gestion’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $10,712,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,637 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,324,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,631 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $1,234,650,000 after buying an additional 2,134,735 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,120,615,000 after buying an additional 3,047,625 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $184.43 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $210.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.31. The stock has a market cap of $122.98 billion, a PE ratio of 114.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,080. This trade represents a 5.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Northland Securities cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group set a $185.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Twenty-eight 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.52.

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.