Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by World Investment Advisors

World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 17.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,959 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,082 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Rollins Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Rollins Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Birchbrook Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Opinicus Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. now owns 5,361 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $987,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the period. Northeast Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Northeast Investment Management now owns 157,191 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,955,000 after buying an additional 16,964 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 39,555 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,286,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. This represents a 24.73% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $265 from $215 and reiterated a Buy rating, saying AI is compressing attack timelines and should accelerate enterprise demand for automated, identity-based security. Jefferies Hikes Palo Alto Networks Price Target to $265: AI Is Compressing Attack Timelines
• Positive Sentiment: Robert W. Baird also lifted its target on PANW to $265 from $220 and maintained an Outperform rating, reinforcing the view that the stock still has meaningful upside. MarketScreener: Baird Adjusts Price Target on Palo Alto Networks
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies highlighted Palo Alto’s identity-security push after CyberArk’s IMPACT26 conference, noting the company’s “Idira” platform as part of a broader strategy to unify identity security and privileged access management across human and non-human identities. Palo Alto advances AI-driven identity strategy with Idira launch, shares gain
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary from Zacks and other market observers pointed to identity security as a potential next growth engine for PANW, supporting the investment case but not adding a new catalyst by itself. Can Identity Security Become PANW’s Next Major Growth Engine?

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $215.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.50.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 4.6%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $238.21 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $239.15. The stock has a market cap of $194.38 billion, a PE ratio of 131.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $173.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.83.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS 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.