Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $294.25 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,445,107 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 76,296 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $294,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Brucke Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $222,000. Citizens Business Bank grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.7% in the third quarter. Citizens Business Bank now owns 26,854 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,468,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% during the third quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 53,397 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $10,873,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.8% during the third quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $818,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 70,994 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $14,456,000 after purchasing an additional 19,707 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Big drop in short interest — Short interest fell roughly 50.8% in February to ~22.8M shares (2.8% of float) and a short-interest ratio of ~1.3 days, reducing immediate short-squeeze risk and removing a pressure point on the shares. (no link)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst consensus still generally constructive — PANW has received an average analyst rating around “Moderate Buy,” supporting a baseline of continued institutional interest. Palo Alto Networks Receives Average Rating of Moderate Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Media pieces pitching the AI/security upside — Commentary argues PANW’s AI-security investments could drive a turnaround, but these are thematic narratives rather than new fundamental beats. PANW Is Down 19% But Its AI Security Bet May Change That
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive context vs. CrowdStrike — Coverage compares Palo Alto’s platform strategy to CrowdStrike’s M&A growth path; useful for positioning but not an immediate catalyst. Cybersecurity Showdown: CrowdStrike vs Palo Alto
• Neutral Sentiment: High-profile commentary — Jim Cramer discussed PANW on air, increasing retail visibility but not adding new company-guidance information. Jim Cramer Discusses Palo Alto Networks’ Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Daiwa cuts price target but keeps outperform rating — PT lowered from $212 to $175, signaling reduced near-term upside expectations from that shop while still endorsing the name. Daiwa Securities Adjusts PT on Palo Alto Networks to $175
• Negative Sentiment: Q3/organic growth commentary; EPS dilution concern — Analysis notes organic growth normalizing and that a Q3 EPS miss was driven by share dilution, which could pressure near-term EPS multiples if buybacks don’t offset dilution. Palo Alto Networks: Organic Growth Begins To Normalize

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $144.84 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.11. The company has a market capitalization of $118.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.02, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group set a $183.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.62.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.