Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,809,361 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 452,744 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 0.8% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.59% of Palo Alto Networks worth $770,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $304.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 249.34, a PEG ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.11. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $306.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. This represents a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 106,389 shares of company stock valued at $27,570,630 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.59.

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.