IFM Investors Pty Ltd Raises Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 136,056 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,132 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $25,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 6.2%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $279.53 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.58. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $302.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $227.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 229.12, a PEG ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The business’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. 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. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

More Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank nudged its FY2027 EPS estimate higher for PANW, signaling modest confidence in longer-term earnings growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary on Prisma AIRS suggests AI security is gaining traction and could boost revenue growth and deal size.
• Positive Sentiment: Broader cybersecurity-sector coverage remains constructive, with analysts and institutions still favoring the group amid rising AI-related security demand.
• Neutral Sentiment: Northland Securities kept a $302 price target and Market Perform rating while issuing a range of earnings estimates, indicating a cautious but not bearish stance.
• Negative Sentiment: Northland also trimmed some near- and mid-term EPS forecasts for PANW, reflecting lingering concern about profitability assumptions and valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: PANW still trades at a demanding valuation, so any slowdown in AI-security momentum could increase volatility.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $114.00 to $207.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. New Street Research decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $255.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total transaction of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,466,400. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 72,076 shares of company stock valued at $17,930,587. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.