M&G PLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

M&G PLC lowered its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 13.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,784 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 2,080 shares during the quarter. M&G PLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $10,712,019,000 after buying an additional 1,541,637 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 950,765 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $810,047,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 219,111 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.5%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $204.77 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.90. The company has a market capitalization of $140.06 billion, a PE ratio of 127.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. 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, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Twenty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total value of $23,081,119.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,008,788.94. The trade was a 40.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock valued at $249,160,428. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.