New York State Teachers Retirement System Buys 90,625 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 17.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 611,550 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 90,625 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.07% of Palo Alto Networks worth $98,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $420 from $325 and reiterated an overweight rating, reinforcing the case for further upside. Wells Fargo price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane lifted its target to $380 from $330 and maintained an outperform rating, adding to the bullish analyst sentiment around PANW. BNP Paribas Exane target raise
• Positive Sentiment: The stock remains a momentum name after gaining roughly 25% since its last earnings report, supported by strong demand for AI-related cybersecurity tools and recent trading interest. Zacks earnings momentum article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several insider sales were disclosed, including director Aparna Bawa and CAO Josh D. Paul. The transactions were relatively small, but insider selling can slightly temper investor enthusiasm. Insider sale disclosure

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.1%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $348.06 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $358.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $283.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 285.30, a PEG ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $200.36.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The business’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. 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. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Scotiabank restated a “sector outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.15.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,490,500. The trade was a 37.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total transaction of $16,270,119.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. This trade represents a 21.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 102,111 shares of company stock valued at $27,204,024. 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.