Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 80,781 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,548,000. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 0.5% of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Trilogy Capital Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,093,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the second quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,197 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the first quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Outfitters Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Outfitters Financial LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total transaction of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. The trade was a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,935 shares of company stock worth $10,809,461. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Capital One Financial set a $421.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.67.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.4%

PANW opened at $358.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $398.88. The stock has a market cap of $291.80 billion, a PE ratio of 293.48, a PEG ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average of $337.38 and a 200-day moving average of $241.72.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior 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 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.