Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Purchased by Forge First Asset Management Inc.

Forge First Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 47.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,500 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,300 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 1.5% of Forge First Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Forge First Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 7,301 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $75,412,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its stake 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 buying an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $277,828,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares during the period. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1,248.9% during the 3rd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 10,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,219,000 after acquiring an additional 10,091 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $149.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $121.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.54, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.75. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $223.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $175.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $190.82.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.