Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 18.3% in the first quarter, buying 49,985 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 323,335 shares worth about $51.8 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a strong quarterly update, with EPS of $0.85 beating estimates and revenue of $3.0 billion topping expectations; revenue also rose 31.1% year over year.
• Wall Street remains constructive on the stock, with several analysts raising price targets and the consensus rating standing at “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $331.48.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 18.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 323,335 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 49,985 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $51,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $5,587,100,000 after acquiring an additional 594,789 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,568,964,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065,776 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,934,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $325.63 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $299.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $265.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 266.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $368.80.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total value of $313,588.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares in the company, valued at $23,272,790.88. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Benchmark increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $331.48.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ: PANW is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company's product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.

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