Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

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 raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 87,893 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 9,883 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $17,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. St. Clair Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,233,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crew Capital Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. New Street Research lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.39.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ PANW traded up $2.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $208.19. The stock had a trading volume of 8,643,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,444,992. The company has a market capitalization of $139.26 billion, a PE ratio of 129.71, a PEG ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $188.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.53. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. 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 anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current 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.