Optimize Financial Inc Makes New $1.75 Million Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Optimize Financial Inc invested approximately $1.75 million in Palo Alto Networks, acquiring 10,276 shares, which constitutes about 0.7% of their investment portfolio.
• Several large institutional investors, including Zurich Insurance and Meiji Yasuda Life, have significantly increased their stakes in Palo Alto Networks, indicating growing confidence in the company's prospects.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.95, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue rising 15.8% compared to last year, reflecting the company's strong market position and growth potential.

Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,276 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,753,000. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 0.7% of Optimize Financial Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $53,218,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 306.1% in the 1st quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 398 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $282,000. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.5% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 707.1% in the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 84,806 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $14,471,000 after acquiring an additional 74,298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total value of $23,081,119.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,008,788.94. This represents a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 569,422 shares of company stock worth $106,629,618 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler raised Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.68.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.5%

PANW opened at $197.38 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $188.19 and a 200 day moving average of $185.67. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $210.39. The stock has a market cap of $132.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.98, a PEG ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. Palo Alto Networks'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. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PANW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.