Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,253,589 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Palo Alto Networks worth $13,290,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,547,000 after buying an additional 7,301 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after acquiring an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,248.9% in the third quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 10,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after acquiring an additional 10,091 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,234,551 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $457,279,000 after purchasing an additional 163,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.2% during the second quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,878,351.95. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% 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 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.5%

PANW stock opened at $166.95 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $182.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.32. The company has a market cap of $116.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.66, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $220.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Stephens raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.97.

More Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Long-term bull case highlighted — several analyst/commentary pieces argue PANW remains a structural growth name in cybersecurity and a smart buy for long-term investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company growth deals and product momentum are cited as offsets to recent analyst cuts, reinforcing the view that near-term analyst noise may not derail multi-year growth. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q2 preview: Zacks notes PANW is entering Q2 with mid‑teen revenue growth expectations but flags decelerating ARR momentum and a premium valuation — a key focus for the upcoming print. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary: PANW recently dropped more than the broader market in intraday moves, reflecting short-term volatility ahead of earnings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target cuts: JPMorgan lowered its PANW target to $225, and other firms (Rosenblatt, BTIG) trimmed targets (Rosenblatt to $225; BTIG to $200), which reduces near-term upside expectations despite some firms maintaining “buy” ratings. Read More. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Deal and listing risk: reports say PANW plans a dual listing on the Tel‑Aviv Stock Exchange after closing the ~$25B CyberArk acquisition — there’s short‑term investor concern about integration complexity and political/geographic exposure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/reputational risk: Reuters reports PANW opted not to publicly tie China to a recent global hacking campaign it exposed, citing fears of retaliation — this raises potential client, regulatory and reputation considerations. Read More.

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.