537,668 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Purchased by Strs Ohio

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has invested approximately $91.75 million in Palo Alto Networks, acquiring 537,668 shares during the 1st quarter.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a 15.8% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share beating consensus estimates.
• The company has garnered a "Moderate Buy" rating from analysts, with a target price averaging $211.68.

Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 537,668 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $91,748,000. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. SWAN Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 200 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glen Eagle Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 212 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Northland Securities lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.68.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.0%

PANW stock traded down $2.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $196.29. 4,429,693 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,988,031. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $210.39. The company has a market cap of $131.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company'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 forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total value of $23,081,119.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,008,788.94. This trade represents a 40.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 569,422 shares of company stock worth $106,629,618. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.