Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec

Key Points

• Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 13.3% in Q1, now holding 258,089 shares worth approximately $44.04 million.
• Insider selling includes EVP Nir Zuk who sold 100,000 shares valued at approximately $19.87 million, reducing his ownership by 2.99%.
• Palo Alto Networks reported $2.54 billion in revenue for the latest quarter, representing a 15.8% year-over-year increase, and beat EPS estimates by $0.06.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 13.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 258,089 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 30,219 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $44,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth about $810,047,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 3,047,625 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 92.7% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 2,862,718 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $411,292,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at $543,199,564.80. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 448,648 shares of company stock worth $83,548,499 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $191.53. 5,477,096 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,036,050. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $188.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.99. The company has a market cap of $127.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 119.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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 expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Northland Securities reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.68.

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.