Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Purchased by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co significantly increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 707.1% during the first quarter, owning 84,806 shares valued at approximately $14.47 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported earnings per share of $0.95 for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.06, alongside a revenue increase of 15.8% year-over-year.
• Institutional and hedge fund ownership of Palo Alto Networks stands at 79.82%, indicating a strong institutional interest in the company.

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 707.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,806 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 74,298 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $14,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 45,947 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $7,840,000 after acquiring an additional 4,215 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 31,000 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $5,290,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 13,475 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,299,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Talon Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.4% during the 1st quarter. Talon Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,872 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 221.4% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 129,484 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $22,095,000 after acquiring an additional 89,196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $194.46 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.07 billion, a PE ratio of 121.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $210.39. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $188.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.62.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $212.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Bank of America raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on shares of 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. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.68.

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.

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