Korea Investment CORP Increases Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 673,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,593 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $137,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,100,311,000 after buying an additional 1,240,830 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,093,262,000 after acquiring an additional 169,055 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in 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 valued at $1,177,765,000 after acquiring an additional 950,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $810,047,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.5%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $185.35 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $223.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $207.77 and a 200 day moving average of $197.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-3.900 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 0.930-0.950 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 1,215,130 shares of company stock valued at $249,031,488 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $220.00 price target (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.09.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.