Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $384.85 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the second quarter, now holding 1,880,611 shares valued at approximately $384.85 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, significantly increased their positions in Palo Alto Networks, with Vanguard owning over 62 million shares valued at approximately $10.71 billion.
• Palo Alto Networks reported earnings of $0.95 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, along with a revenue of $2.54 billion, a 15.8% increase compared to the previous year.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,880,611 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 23,483 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.28% of Palo Alto Networks worth $384,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $10,712,019,000 after buying an additional 1,541,637 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,234,650,000 after buying an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,177,765,000 after buying an additional 950,765 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $810,047,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,422,037 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $754,576,000 after buying an additional 219,111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, September 15th. BTIG Research raised Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. UBS Group set a $245.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Thirty 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $217.22.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.2%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $217.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $145.49 billion, a PE ratio of 135.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $217.94. The business's 50-day moving average price is $199.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.74.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. The firm's quarterly 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. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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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