Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Trims Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 65.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,291 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 121,422 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $675,865,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $633,068,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 77.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,879,506 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $662,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,688,432 shares during the period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $340,883,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,100,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,830 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. DA Davidson set a $240.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.20.

More Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Major strategic deal — Palo Alto expanded its partnership with Google Cloud in a multibillion‑dollar agreement (reported as approaching $10B) that includes migrating key internal workloads and deepening cloud/AI security integration; this is being viewed as a material revenue and go‑to‑market catalyst. Google Cloud lands deal with Palo Alto Networks
• Positive Sentiment: Company release and partner messaging reinforce the Reuters report, highlighting expanded cloud + AI security offerings and joint go‑to‑market programs that could accelerate enterprise adoption. Palo Alto Networks and Google Cloud Forge Landmark Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support increased — JPMorgan reinstated coverage with an Overweight rating and $235 PT, and other outlets noted a $250 price target lift, signaling renewed analyst conviction that could attract buyers. JPMorgan Reinstates Palo Alto Networks With Overweight Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Product momentum — Zacks highlights Cortex XSIAM landing larger deals and higher‑spend customers, implying a potential new growth engine that could lift ARR and margins over time. Can Cortex XSIAM Become Palo Alto Networks’ Next Major Growth Engine?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention and monitoring — Zacks notes elevated user interest and recent earnings was modestly followed by a small stock move; this keeps PANW on watch lists but doesn’t by itself change fundamentals. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is Attracting Investor Attention
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑term earnings context — a Zacks note observed the stock is only slightly up since the last earnings release, suggesting the market is parsing guidance and execution details rather than reacting strongly yet. Palo Alto (PANW) Up 0.4% Since Last Earnings Report
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — recent reports show insiders sold roughly $5M in PANW stock, which some investors interpret as a cautionary signal about near‑term insider confidence. Insiders At Palo Alto Networks Sold US$5.0m In Stock

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 1,228,330 shares of company stock valued at $251,702,305 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $186.88 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $201.95 and a 200-day moving average of $197.32. The company has a market cap of $130.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.