GraniteShares Advisors LLC Sells 6,189 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

GraniteShares Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 97.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 184 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 6,189 shares during the period. GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $34,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,290,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,589 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $6,055,031,000 after purchasing an additional 505,924 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in 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 buying an additional 36,511 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% in 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 buying an additional 611,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,037,320 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $822,079,000 after buying an additional 17,394 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora purchased 68,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,434,276.78. The trade was a 24.73% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 149,552 shares of company stock worth $27,779,427. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. New Street Research lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. HSBC reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.95.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: An insider reportedly bought about US$10.0m of PANW stock, a sign of confidence from management or insiders that can reassure investors and provide upward support to the share price. Insider Buy Article
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks published a note highlighting that PANW outperformed the broader market in the latest session, reflecting short‑term buying momentum and attention on the name. That positive market reaction can amplify interest from momentum and quant-driven flows. Zacks Upswing Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Benchmark initiated coverage of PANW (coverage initiation often brings increased analyst visibility and trading volume). Investors should watch the new rating and price target for directional cues. Coverage Initiation
• Neutral Sentiment: Local law‑firm hiring news (Arman Pahlavan joining Dorsey & Whitney in Palo Alto) is peripheral to PANW fundamentals and unlikely to move the stock materially. Business Wire Article
• Negative Sentiment: Two senior executives disclosed open‑market sales on April 1: EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares at ~$160.42 and CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares at ~$161.40. Insider sales can create near‑term selling pressure or raise governance/rotation questions, even when not unusual for executives. SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst/market commentary pointing out a roughly 12% decline over three months highlights near‑term downside and investor concern, even as some pieces note SASE momentum and enterprise wins that could stabilize revenue longer term. Persistent share‑price weakness can prompt re‑rating risk. Zacks Decline Article

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $163.21 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.17, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $162.13 and a 200-day moving average of $185.89.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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.