Candriam S.C.A. Purchases 125,478 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,198,697 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 125,478 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 1.0% of Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Candriam S.C.A. owned 0.15% of Palo Alto Networks worth $192,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $1,415,364,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,568,964,000 after buying an additional 2,065,776 shares in the last quarter. Employees Provident Fund Board bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $281,542,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $164,968,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. DA Davidson increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. FBN Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.65.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $325.91 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $368.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $265.62 billion, a PE ratio of 267.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total transaction of $101,134.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,244,839.38. This represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,477,180. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.