The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New $256.99 Million Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired 753,622 Palo Alto Networks shares worth approximately $256.99 million, representing about 0.09% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly EPS of $0.85, beating estimates of $0.79, while revenue reached $3 billion and increased 31.1% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $364; recent targets range from $400 to $425.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 753,622 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $256,985,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.09% of Palo Alto Networks at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 594,789 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,476,753 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,603,473,000 after purchasing an additional 3,101,267 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $2,934,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $350.90 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $338.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.49. The company has a market cap of $285.98 billion, a PE ratio of 287.62, a PEG ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $398.88.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $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. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total transaction of $310,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,477,180. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total transaction of $101,134.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,244,839.38. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 37,935 shares of company stock valued at $10,809,461 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Argus set a $425.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, New Street Research set a $415.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $364.00.

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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