Aviva PLC Acquires 36,469 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Aviva PLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 494,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,469 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.07% of Palo Alto Networks worth $101,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% in the first quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.3% in the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 205,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $41,957,000 after acquiring an additional 41,392 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 9.2% during the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 39,893 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,164,000 after purchasing an additional 3,351 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total value of $153,979.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,160,428. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $212.29 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $207.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.77. The stock has a market cap of $142.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.27, a PEG ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The company’s revenue 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.17.

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.