Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW – Free Report) by 36.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,928 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 8,576 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms have issued reports on PANW. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price 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 Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Arete Research upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.95.
Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks
Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Platform momentum: Zacks reports PANW’s platform strategy is gaining traction with rising customer adoption, large deal wins and strong retention — a driver for longer‑term revenue growth and multiple support. Can Platform Wins Accelerate Palo Alto Networks’ Long-Term Growth?
- Positive Sentiment: AI partnership lift: The Motley Fool highlights Anthropic’s collaboration with Palo Alto as validating PANW’s AI‑security positioning — a potential growth catalyst as enterprises demand stronger AI-aware defenses. Did Anthropic Just Crown CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks the AI Cybersecurity Stock Winners?
- Positive Sentiment: Sector spending tailwind: 247WallSt argues cybersecurity names (including PANW) are positioned for a large enterprise spending cycle on end‑to‑end security — a structural demand thesis that supports multiple expansion and revenue upside. Why Cybersecurity Stocks Look Built for the Next Big Spending Cycle
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Brokerages’ consensus view is a “Moderate Buy,” which can reinforce investor confidence and limit downside during sector volatility. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages
- Neutral Sentiment: Short‑term price action: A Zacks note flagged PANW outperformed the broader market in a recent session (a modest positive datapoint but not a change to the fundamental thesis). Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Outperforms Broader Market: What You Need to Know
- Neutral Sentiment: Broader AI stock coverage: The Fool’s roundup of “AI stocks” includes PANW as an AI security play — useful for sentiment but not an immediate catalyst on its own. 3 Genius AI Stocks You’ll Regret Not Buying During This Sell-Off
- Negative Sentiment: Sector rotation pressure: The Motley Fool notes a broader Wall Street rotation away from technology in 2026 has hit cybersecurity stocks, including PANW, causing a sell‑off that weighs on near‑term performance despite solid fundamentals. The Great Rotation Hit Cybersecurity Stocks Hard. Smart Investors Are Buying the Dip.
Insider Activity
In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total value of $177,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 83,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,418,150.40. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.
Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance
Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $166.97 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $160.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.67. The stock has a market cap of $136.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61.
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. On average, analysts predict 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.
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