Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. Buys New Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 58,480 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,772,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,055,031,000 after purchasing an additional 505,924 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,532,902,000 after purchasing an additional 36,511 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,202,776,000 after purchasing an additional 611,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,356,617 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $802,691,000 after purchasing an additional 319,751 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target to $275 and kept a Buy rating, signaling confidence in continued upside for Palo Alto Networks. Truist raises PANW target
• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer lifted its target to $275 and reiterated an Outperform rating after noting encouraging signs from the company’s CyberArk-related product launch and customer feedback. Oppenheimer lifts PANW target
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho increased its target to $265 and maintained an Outperform rating, citing strength in subscriptions and possible upside to remaining performance obligations. Mizuho raises PANW target
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt also raised its target to $275 and kept a Buy rating, adding to the broad analyst optimism around the stock. Rosenblatt positive forecast
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Nikesh Arora said AI is expected to help engineers ship more features, not reduce headcount, suggesting the company sees AI as a growth driver rather than a cost-cutting story. Business Insider article
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider buying was highlighted as value-positive, but the item is more of a confidence signal than a clear near-term catalyst. Insider buying article
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary noted the stock has rallied sharply and is technically overbought, which could make it vulnerable to volatility if upcoming earnings disappoint. Technical analysis article

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.0%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $240.13 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $248.85. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $178.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.34. The stock has a market cap of $195.95 billion, a PE ratio of 132.67, a P/E/G ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 0.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Berenberg Bank set a $215.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Arete Research raised Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group set a $183.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.49.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora acquired 68,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at $50,434,276.78. The trade was a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.