Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Has $42.84 Million Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 125,615 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,527 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.2% of Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $42,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $434.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total transaction of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. This represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 38,835 shares of company stock valued at $11,127,854 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark raised its price target to $400 from $340 and maintained a Buy rating, citing potential upside to next-generation security annual recurring revenue, revenue, operating income and margins. The forecast reinforces expectations that Palo Alto Networks’ AI-security strategy is gaining traction. Palo Alto Networks Gets a $400 Target
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are taking confidence from CrowdStrike’s stronger-than-expected results, which highlighted robust AI-related cybersecurity demand and lifted sentiment across the sector. Palo Alto Networks is viewed as a potential beneficiary of the same spending cycle. Palo Alto Networks Stock Trades Up
• Positive Sentiment: Platformization, adoption of AI-security products and recent deal wins are expected to support fourth-quarter growth. BTIG also assigned PANW a Buy rating, adding to broadly favorable analyst coverage. Palo Alto Networks to Report Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings are the next major catalyst. Traders expect potentially significant movement after the report, while analysts are watching recurring revenue, margins, operating income and guidance—not just revenue and EPS. Expected Post-Earnings Stock Move
• Negative Sentiment: Acquisition-related costs could pressure results, and the stock’s triple-digit P/E ratio—above 300 based on the supplied data—means much of the AI-growth outlook may already be reflected in the price. Any shortfall in growth or guidance could trigger profit-taking. Palo Alto’s Rally Has One Big Problem Ahead of Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Chief Accounting Officer Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares for approximately $318,000, reducing his position by 1.21%. The transaction is small relative to his remaining holdings but may create a modest sentiment headwind. Palo Alto Networks Insider Sale

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $371.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $302.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 304.58, a PEG ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $398.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $344.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.