Alamar Capital Management LLC Invests $1.96 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Alamar Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 12,209 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,957,000. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 1.2% of Alamar Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $65,796,000 after purchasing an additional 53,485 shares during the period. Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $104,774,000 after purchasing an additional 29,230 shares in the last quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,926,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,554,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $335.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $297.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.80. The company has a market cap of $273.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 274.82, a P/E/G ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $368.80.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to highlight Palo Alto Networks as a key beneficiary of rising AI-driven cybersecurity spending, with Morgan Stanley saying sentiment on software stocks may be too negative and Barron’s arguing PANW could be a major winner in the new AI era. Article: Morgan Stanley Analysts Say Sentiment Has Gotten ‘Too Negative’ on Software Stocks. These Are Their Picks
• Positive Sentiment: Market watchers are also pointing to broader enterprise demand for cybersecurity as AI agents proliferate, which could support future security product spending and reinforce PANW’s growth narrative. Article: Citi Wealth CIO Warns “Infinite AI Agents” Will Accelerate Cybersecurity’s Share of Enterprise Spending
• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto Networks announced it will acquire Embrace to extend its observability platform with Real User Monitoring and Synthetics, a move aimed at improving digital experience monitoring and AI-driven operations. Investors may see this as an expansion into a higher-value adjacent market. Article: Palo Alto Networks to Extend Leading Observability Platform with Innovative Digital Experience Monitoring
• Neutral Sentiment: Another brief note flagged PANW as a cybersecurity stock to follow, but did not add any new catalyst beyond the broader sector interest. Article: Cybersecurity Stocks To Follow Now – July 20th
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the upbeat long-term themes, one article noted PANW had slipped intraday, suggesting some investors are still taking profits or reacting to overall software sector weakness. Article: Palo Alto slips 3%: Why this analyst still sees it as a top cyber pick

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,898 shares in the company, valued at $2,045,721.30. The trade was a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total transaction of $310,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 79,644 shares in the company, valued at $27,477,180. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on PANW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Capital One Financial set a $421.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $331.48.

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.