Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Has $44.30 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 240,488 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,776 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $44,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,249 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $856,000 after acquiring an additional 1,374 shares during the period. Knollwood Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Knollwood Investment Advisory LLC now owns 61,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,266,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 145,891 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,898,000 after acquiring an additional 4,994 shares during the period. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Europe Ltd increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Europe Ltd now owns 3,416 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $629,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP now owns 42,157 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,765,000 after acquiring an additional 2,351 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the business’s 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 536 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $150,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,704 shares in the company, valued at $2,157,120. This represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 81,044 shares of company stock worth $20,424,722. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $279.62 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.89 billion, a PE ratio of 229.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.94. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $216.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.26. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $302.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. 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, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $350.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Arete Research raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Northland Securities boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus 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.