Prudential PLC Increases Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Prudential PLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 16.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 85,293 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 11,798 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $17,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% in the first quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.3% during the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 205,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $41,957,000 after purchasing an additional 41,392 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 39,893 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,164,000 after buying an additional 3,351 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total transaction of $23,081,119.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,954 shares in the company, valued at $34,008,788.94. This trade represents a 40.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total value of $153,979.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,505 shares in the company, valued at $10,449,674.85. This represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock valued at $249,031,488 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $199.90 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $209.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-3.900 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 0.930-0.950 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on PANW shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.22.

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.