Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 28.9%, acquiring an additional 72,559 shares during the second quarter, bringing their total holdings to approximately $66.3 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported $2.54 billion in revenue for the latest quarter, exceeding expectations, with earnings per share at $0.95, above the consensus estimate of $0.89.
• Insider trading revealed that CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares for over $172 million, representing a significant reduction of his ownership in the company.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 28.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 324,055 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 72,559 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $66,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at $33,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 58.9% during the first quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 224 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 46.8% during the first quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 232 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $209.30 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.04. The company has a market cap of $140.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, September 15th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $212.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. UBS Group set a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Thirty investment 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,629,805.65. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $259,351,606. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.

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