Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 134.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 384,985 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Palo Alto Networks worth $136,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 39.7% in the third quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 176 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 259,842 shares of company stock worth $49,778,422 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group set a $183.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Stephens lifted their price objective on 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. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $200.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.62.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $148.92 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $223.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.52 billion, a PE ratio of 82.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $174.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.89.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. 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, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share 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.