Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Position Lowered by Thematics Asset Management

Key Points

• Thematics Asset Management reduced its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% in the first quarter, selling 9,246 shares to hold a total of 105,772 shares valued at $18 million.
• Institutional investors control 79.82% of Palo Alto Networks' stock, with several hedge funds like Vanguard Group and Northern Trust significantly increasing their holdings recently.
• Palo Alto Networks reported earnings of $0.95 per share, surpassing analyst expectations, and has set a fiscal year 2026 EPS guidance between 3.750-3.850.

Thematics Asset Management lessened its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,772 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 9,246 shares during the quarter. Thematics Asset Management's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $18,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $10,712,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541,637 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,120,615,000 after buying an additional 3,047,625 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 264,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total transaction of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,450,734.65. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 669,948 shares of company stock valued at $126,552,277. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.4%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $185.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $123.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $190.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.32. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $215.00 target price (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Scotiabank increased 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 report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Twenty-eight research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.52.

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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