Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI has made a significant investment in Palo Alto Networks, purchasing 311,874 shares valued at approximately $53.2 million during the first quarter.
• Recent insider transactions at Palo Alto Networks include the sale of 120,774 shares by EVP Lee Klarich and 100,000 shares by EVP Nir Zuk, indicating changes in executive holdings.
• Palo Alto Networks' stock performance shows a market capitalization of $132.03 billion with a P/E ratio of 122.98, and analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $211.68.

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 311,874 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $53,218,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. SWAN Capital LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 200 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,008,788.94. The trade was a 40.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 569,422 shares of company stock valued at $106,629,618 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $197.38 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $188.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $210.39.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. KeyCorp lowered Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $232.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.68.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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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