Covea Finance Invests $31.99 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Covea Finance has invested approximately $31.99 million in Palo Alto Networks, acquiring 156,335 shares, which now represents 1.2% of its portfolio.
• Institutional investors hold 79.82% of Palo Alto Networks' stock, with notable recent investments from firms like Nuveen LLC and GAMMA Investing LLC.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a **15.8%** year-over-year revenue increase, with earnings per share of **$0.95**, surpassing analysts' estimates and setting FY 2026 guidance between 3.750 to 3.850 EPS.

Covea Finance bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 156,335 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $31,992,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.2% of Covea Finance's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $810,047,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $633,068,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 18,802.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,410,290 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $411,292,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,539 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,234,650,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 77.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,879,506 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $662,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,688,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $208.18 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $210.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.71, a PEG ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. 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 predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group set a $185.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $215.00 price target (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total value of $128,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,948,576.60. This represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total value of $23,081,119.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,008,788.94. The trade was a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 563,622 shares of company stock valued at $105,459,528 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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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