Aberdeen Group plc Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.6%, now owning 561,489 shares valued at approximately $114.9 million.
• Other institutional investors such as Vanguard and Goldman Sachs also raised their stakes, indicating strong interest in Palo Alto Networks, which now has 79.82% of its shares held by institutional investors.
• Palo Alto Networks reported $2.54 billion in revenue for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a net profit margin of 12.30% and 15.8% year-over-year revenue growth.

Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 561,489 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 34,804 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks worth $114,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in 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 buying an additional 1,541,637 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the 1st 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. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,177,765,000 after buying an additional 950,765 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $810,047,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,422,037 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $754,576,000 after buying an additional 219,111 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Tigress Financial began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, September 26th. They set a "buy" rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.95.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $208.55 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $217.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.94, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.98. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $192.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The company's 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.

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