Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Acquires 41,555 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 164.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,875 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,555 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $29,000. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 176 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Argus raised Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Mizuho set a $200.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.62.

Palo Alto Networks News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company-level fundamentals show continuing revenue growth and management set FY‑2026 EPS guidance (3.65–3.70) and Q3 guidance, supporting the view of durable subscription/AI-driven demand. Palo Alto Networks: Organic Growth Begins To Normalize, Q3 EPS Miss Driven By Share Dilution
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst raised FY2026 EPS estimates for PANW, indicating some sell‑side confidence in the company’s forward earnings trajectory. FY2026 EPS Estimate for Palo Alto Networks Raised by Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer and media coverage are keeping PANW in public view — attention can amplify moves in either direction but doesn’t change fundamentals. Jim Cramer Discusses Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons with peers (e.g., CrowdStrike) highlight differing strategies — PANW’s platform approach vs. CRWD’s acquisition growth — which frames investor preference but is not an immediate catalyst. Cybersecurity Showdown: CrowdStrike’s Acquisition Spree vs Palo Alto’s Platform Play
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst (Daiwa) cut PANW’s price target from $212 to $175 — the downgrade of expectations (even with an “outperform” rating retained) is weighing on sentiment. Daiwa Securities Adjusts PT on Palo Alto Networks to $175 from $212, Maintains Outperform Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Sector-wide selling after Anthropic released an AI tool that scans code for vulnerabilities has triggered fears that automated AI tools could displace parts of cybersecurity vendors’ workflows. This is a major near-term headwind for PANW. Cybersecurity stocks drop for a second day as new Anthropic tool fuels AI disruption fears
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary (and the Seeking Alpha angle) points to EPS pressure from share dilution — investors may be penalizing dilution risk despite GAAP/adjusted beats. Palo Alto Networks: Organic Growth Begins To Normalize, Q3 EPS Miss Driven By Share Dilution

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $141.67 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The firm has a market cap of $115.60 billion, a PE ratio of 78.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.43.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share 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.