The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 38.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 883,419 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 246,421 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $141,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Steph & Co. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $319.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $259.99 billion, a PE ratio of 261.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business’s 50-day moving average is $303.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.63. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $368.80.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,898 shares in the company, valued at $2,045,721.30. This trade represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $331.48.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.