Acadian Asset Management LLC Buys 367,862 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 244.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 518,643 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 367,862 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks worth $106,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,393 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 8,716 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,534,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harmony Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 14,264 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,434,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $232.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total transaction of $153,979.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,449,674.85. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,160,428 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.4%

PANW opened at $212.29 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $207.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.99. The company has a market capitalization of $142.00 billion, a PE ratio of 132.27, a PEG ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 0.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $223.61.

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

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.