Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.1%, acquiring an additional 16,500 shares, bringing their total ownership to 247,500 shares valued at approximately $50.6 million.
• Several institutional investors have recently bought into Palo Alto Networks, raising overall institutional ownership in the company to 79.82%.
• The stock has seen analyst support with a consensus price target of $212.39, with most analysts rating it a "Moderate Buy."

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 247,500 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 16,500 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $50,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. SWAN Capital LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 200 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $37,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, September 15th. UBS Group set a $185.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $215.00 price target (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.39.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $2.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $208.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,643,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,444,992. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.71, a PEG ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.98. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $188.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.52. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company'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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total transaction of $128,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 37,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,948,576.60. This represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total value of $19,866,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,243,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $644,356,888.56. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 568,622 shares of company stock worth $106,468,778 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.