Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 42,332.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 127,298 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 126,998 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $23,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Steph & Co. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $284.54 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $218.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $302.95. The firm has a market cap of $231.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 233.23, a PEG ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm 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. The firm’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. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 81,044 shares of company stock worth $20,424,722 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Argus lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $222.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Friday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $340.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.59.

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.