Swiss National Bank Acquires 516,715 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 27.9% in the first quarter, buying 516,715 additional shares and bringing its total to 2,371,615 shares worth about $380.2 million.
• Other major institutional investors also hold large positions in PANW, with firms like Vanguard, State Street, and Bank of America expanding their stakes; overall, institutions own about 79.82% of the company.
• Palo Alto Networks beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $0.85 EPS on $3 billion in revenue, while analysts have broadly turned bullish with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $327.74.

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 27.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,371,615 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 516,715 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Palo Alto Networks worth $380,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Loop Capital raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $415.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $327.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 81,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,272,790.88. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,037,002.95. This trade represents a 21.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $358.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.30. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $368.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $292.32 billion, a PE ratio of 294.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.91.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. 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. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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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