Candriam S.C.A. Raises Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,198,697 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 125,478 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises 1.0% of Candriam S.C.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $192,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,587,100,000 after buying an additional 594,789 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,568,964,000 after buying an additional 2,065,776 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,934,935,000 after buying an additional 540,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $1,415,364,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,598,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.7%

PANW opened at $325.91 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $368.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $274.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.64. The company has a market cap of $265.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 267.14, a P/E/G ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. DA Davidson raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group set a $300.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $318.65.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.