Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Invests $40.45 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 118,624 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $40,453,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $25,833,462,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $12,512,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 594,789 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total value of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total value of $313,588.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 81,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,272,790.88. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 37,935 shares of company stock worth $10,809,461 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $358.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $291.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 293.48, a P/E/G ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $398.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $337.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $241.72.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $475.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $320.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $362.67.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source