Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Buys 9,883 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, boosting ownership by 12.7% to nearly 88,000 shares worth approximately $18 million.
• Recent brokerages have upgraded their price targets for Palo Alto Networks, with BMO Capital Markets raising its target from $217 to $225 and a general average price target of $212.39 among analysts.
• Insider trading activity revealed significant sales, with two executives selling over 125,000 shares collectively, prompting scrutiny over insider sentiment.

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 12.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 87,893 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,883 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $17,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. St. Clair Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the second quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,233,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the first quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the first quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Crew Capital Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the first quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded up $2.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $205.68. The company had a trading volume of 5,443,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,581,739. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $210.39. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $188.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.35. The company has a market capitalization of $137.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The company's quarterly 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, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total value of $23,081,119.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,008,788.94. The trade was a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. 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. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, New Street Research lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Twenty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $212.39.

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.