Mattson Financial Services LLC Purchases 7,925 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 118.9% in the 1st quarter, bringing its total holdings to 14,588 shares valued at approximately $2.49 million.
• Multiple other institutional investors also adjusted their positions, with 79.82% of the company's stock now owned by hedge funds and similar entities.
• Palo Alto Networks reported $0.95 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenues up 15.8% year-over-year.

Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 118.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,588 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,925 shares during the period. Mattson Financial Services LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% in the first quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,374 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,663 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $23,491,000 after acquiring an additional 10,180 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $316,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $543,199,564.80. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total transaction of $23,081,119.14. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 569,422 shares of company stock valued at $106,629,618. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded down $2.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $196.29. 4,429,693 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,988,031. The company has a fifty day moving average of $188.03 and a 200 day moving average 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 P/E ratio of 122.30, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS 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 company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The firm'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, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on PANW. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.