Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stake Boosted by China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• China Universal Asset Management increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 16.5% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 47,658 shares valued at approximately $18.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly earnings of $1.02 per share, exceeding the $0.98 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 34.5% year over year to $3.41 billion.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive, with 39 analysts rating PANW a Buy and 11 assigning a Hold rating. The stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $398.55.

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 16.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,658 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 6,738 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.0% of China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $18,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the third quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 472 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,285 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Tenon Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tenon Financial LLC now owns 661 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 657 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh Paul sold 900 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.68, for a total value of $336,312.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 72,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,085,821.12. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total value of $940,075.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,760,300. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $380.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $311.60 billion, a PE ratio of 191.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.93. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $432.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $371.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $269.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.160-4.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, September 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Yorkville Ives started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $398.55.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc NASDAQ: PANW is a global cybersecurity company that helps organizations protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, and digital infrastructure. Its offerings are designed to prevent cyberattacks, identify security risks, monitor activity, and support incident response across enterprise, government, and service-provider environments.

The company's portfolio includes network security products such as next-generation firewalls and security operations tools; Prisma, its cloud security platform; and Cortex, a suite focused on endpoint protection, threat detection, security analytics, and automated response.

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