Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD significantly increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, purchasing 1,688,432 shares, which raised its ownership to approximately 3.88 million shares, valued at around $662 million.
• Recent insider transactions included EVP Dipak Golechha selling 5,000 shares for $1.01 million, leading to a 4.71% decrease in his position, with insiders collectively selling 669,948 shares worth about $126.55 million in the last 90 days.
• Palo Alto Networks' stock has seen a trading increase of 1.4% with a current market cap of $123.94 billion, and the company reported a 15.8% year-over-year revenue growth in its latest earnings report.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 77.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,879,506 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,688,432 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.59% of Palo Alto Networks worth $662,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 39.5% in the 1st quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC now owns 4,058 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 795,693 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $135,777,000 after purchasing an additional 27,447 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 3,084 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 18,380 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 3,455 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $2.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $185.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,857,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,233,472. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $190.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.32. The stock 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. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on PANW shares. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. KeyCorp cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total transaction of $128,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,948,576.60. This trade represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 669,948 shares of company stock valued at $126,552,277 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.