Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Bought by World Investment Advisors

World Investment Advisors raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 17.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,959 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,082 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $238.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $194.38 billion, a PE ratio of 131.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.83. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $239.15.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total transaction of $177,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 83,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,418,150.40. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $265 from $215 and reiterated a Buy rating, saying AI is compressing attack timelines and should accelerate enterprise demand for automated, identity-based security. Jefferies Hikes Palo Alto Networks Price Target to $265: AI Is Compressing Attack Timelines
• Positive Sentiment: Robert W. Baird also lifted its target on PANW to $265 from $220 and maintained an Outperform rating, reinforcing the view that the stock still has meaningful upside. MarketScreener: Baird Adjusts Price Target on Palo Alto Networks
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies highlighted Palo Alto’s identity-security push after CyberArk’s IMPACT26 conference, noting the company’s “Idira” platform as part of a broader strategy to unify identity security and privileged access management across human and non-human identities. Palo Alto advances AI-driven identity strategy with Idira launch, shares gain
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary from Zacks and other market observers pointed to identity security as a potential next growth engine for PANW, supporting the investment case but not adding a new catalyst by itself. Can Identity Security Become PANW’s Next Major Growth Engine?

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PANW. Daiwa Securities Group cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. New Street Research decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $205.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Berenberg Bank set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $213.50.

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.