Moody National Bank Trust Division Sells 4,173 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Moody National Bank Trust Division cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,766 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 4,173 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,547,000 after acquiring an additional 7,301 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $136,859,000 after buying an additional 384,985 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $277,828,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,389,000 after acquiring an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company rolled out Prisma AIRS 3.0, positioning PANW to secure “agentic” / autonomous AI agents across discovery, risk assessment and protection — a direct product play into the growing AI‑security spending cycle that could drive upsells and stickier enterprise relationships. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple simultaneous launches (Next‑Generation Trust Security for certificate lifecycle automation, an industry‑focused secure browser for agentic AI, and Prisma Browser for Business for SMBs) broaden PANW’s platform coverage — reinforcing the company’s “platform consolidation” thesis that supports long‑term ARR and margin expansion. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary highlights PANW as a leading beneficiary of the shift to autonomous security (alongside CRWD), framing recent product launches as durable growth catalysts that strengthen investor case for platform incumbents. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst activity: Freedom Capital maintained a Buy rating but lowered the price target (from $230 to $210), signaling continued confidence in demand yet a slightly reduced near‑term valuation outlook. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Scotiabank posted an FY2027 earnings estimate for PANW — an incremental data point for modeling but not a clear directional catalyst by itself. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several outlets (PR Newswire, MSN) amplified the new product releases — positive PR flow that supports awareness but may take quarters to translate into material ARR upside. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Datafeed entries show a large increase in “short interest” but report zero shares / NaN values — indicating a likely reporting error. Still, any perceived rise in short activity or noisy headlines can pressure the stock short‑term if investors interpret the data as negative. (No reliable link available.)

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 144,252 shares of company stock worth $26,947,635. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 4.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $157.21 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $166.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.24. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $128.28 billion, a PE ratio of 86.86, a PEG ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays set a $200.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.19.

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.