Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Purchased by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 17.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 199,960 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,587 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $79,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,610,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493,179 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,681,876 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,734,973,000 after purchasing an additional 205,123 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,778,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,993,802,000 after purchasing an additional 706,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $1,968,304,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $330.89 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $432.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 648.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $369.48 and a 200-day moving average of $274.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. The firm’s revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.160-4.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on PANW. Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $370.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $390.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.55.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total transaction of $7,533,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total value of $10,769,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 117,750 shares in the company, valued at $46,110,900. This trade represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides products and services to help organizations protect their networks, cloud environments, devices and applications. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud security tools, secure access services and platforms for detecting and responding to cyber threats.

The company’s product portfolio includes Prisma for cloud and network security and Cortex for security operations, including threat detection and response. It also provides cybersecurity consulting and incident-response services through Unit 42.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Palo Alto Networks serves businesses, government agencies and other organizations around the world.