Aberdeen Group plc Boosts Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 561,489 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,804 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $114,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 58.9% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 224 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $208.55 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $192.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $217.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.94, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. New Street Research lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. 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. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.95.

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.