Acadian Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC reduced its shares in Palo Alto Networks by 54.7%, selling 182,267 shares and holding 150,781 shares worth approximately $25.7 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Palo Alto Networks, with notable increases including Brighton Jones LLC at 147.7% and Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG at 115.6%.
• Analysts have set price targets for Palo Alto Networks with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.68.

Acadian Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 54.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 150,781 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 182,267 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $25,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $10,712,019,000 after buying an additional 1,541,637 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $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 raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during 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 valued at $1,177,765,000 after buying an additional 950,765 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,120,615,000 after buying an additional 3,047,625 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 92.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,951,283 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,082,895,000 after buying an additional 2,862,718 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW traded down $2.04 on Friday, hitting $196.29. The company had a trading volume of 4,429,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,988,031. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $188.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $210.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $543,199,564.80. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 42,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,450,734.65. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 569,422 shares of company stock valued at $106,629,618. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group set a $185.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.68.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.