Shell Asset Management Co. Lowers Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Shell Asset Management Co. cut its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 78.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,402 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 34,980 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11.7% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 712,780 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $145,136,000 after buying an additional 74,826 shares during the period. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,123 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.8% during the third quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 1,872 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Snider Financial Group boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 9.1% during the third quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 22,208 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% in the third quarter. NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ now owns 8,830 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $166.95 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.36 billion, a PE ratio of 105.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.26.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

More Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Long-term bull case highlighted — several analyst/commentary pieces argue PANW remains a structural growth name in cybersecurity and a smart buy for long-term investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company growth deals and product momentum are cited as offsets to recent analyst cuts, reinforcing the view that near-term analyst noise may not derail multi-year growth. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q2 preview: Zacks notes PANW is entering Q2 with mid‑teen revenue growth expectations but flags decelerating ARR momentum and a premium valuation — a key focus for the upcoming print. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary: PANW recently dropped more than the broader market in intraday moves, reflecting short-term volatility ahead of earnings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target cuts: JPMorgan lowered its PANW target to $225, and other firms (Rosenblatt, BTIG) trimmed targets (Rosenblatt to $225; BTIG to $200), which reduces near-term upside expectations despite some firms maintaining “buy” ratings. Read More. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Deal and listing risk: reports say PANW plans a dual listing on the Tel‑Aviv Stock Exchange after closing the ~$25B CyberArk acquisition — there’s short‑term investor concern about integration complexity and political/geographic exposure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/reputational risk: Reuters reports PANW opted not to publicly tie China to a recent global hacking campaign it exposed, citing fears of retaliation — this raises potential client, regulatory and reputation considerations. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $220.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.97.

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.