B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Has $177.55 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,040,489 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,384 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.8% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG owned approximately 0.16% of Palo Alto Networks worth $177,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $810,047,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,120,615,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047,625 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 92.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,951,283 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,082,895,000 after acquiring an additional 2,862,718 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 18,802.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,410,290 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $411,292,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $1,234,650,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,735 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $184.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $189.98 and a 200-day moving average of $186.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,450,734.65. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 669,948 shares of company stock worth $126,552,277. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.52.

Palo Alto Networks 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.