ABN Amro Investment Solutions Has $33.94 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• ABN Amro Investment Solutions increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 51.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 184,265 shares valued at about $33.94 million.
• Palo Alto Networks has drawn broad institutional interest, with hedge funds and asset managers continuing to add shares; institutional investors now own 79.82% of the company.
• The stock has been supported by strong recent results and upbeat analyst sentiment, including a quarterly EPS beat and multiple firms raising price targets, with consensus rating still at Moderate Buy.

ABN Amro Investment Solutions lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 51.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 184,265 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 62,801 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions' holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $33,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $6,055,031,000 after buying an additional 505,924 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,532,902,000 after buying an additional 36,511 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,202,776,000 after buying an additional 611,375 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,356,617 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $802,691,000 after buying an additional 319,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.7%

PANW opened at $246.66 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $250.00. The company has a market cap of $201.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 136.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $179.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.54.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Palo Alto Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $270 from $200 and kept an outperform rating, signaling confidence that the stock can continue higher. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley increased its target to $253 from $223 and maintained an overweight rating, adding to the cluster of bullish analyst calls. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus boosted its target to $275 from $185 and reiterated a buy rating, reinforcing expectations for further upside in PANW shares. The Fly
• Positive Sentiment: Truist Financial also raised its price target to $275 from $200 and kept a buy rating, indicating broad analyst enthusiasm for Palo Alto Networks’ growth outlook. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary about AI reshaping cybersecurity and articles highlighting PANW as a cybersecurity stock to watch support the long-term theme, but they do not appear to be immediate stock-moving catalysts. ETF Trends

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.16.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 52,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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