Odyssey Capital Advisors Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Odyssey Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 5,088 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $937,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,055,031,000 after acquiring an additional 505,924 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,532,902,000 after acquiring an additional 36,511 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,202,776,000 after acquiring an additional 611,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,356,617 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $802,691,000 after acquiring an additional 319,751 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective (up from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.98.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total value of $177,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 83,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,418,150.40. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,434,276.78. This trade represents a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $275 from $245 and reiterated an Outperform rating, signaling confidence that the stock can keep moving higher. Oppenheimer Hikes Palo Alto Networks Price Target to $275: CyberArk Becomes Idira, Identity Security Just Got Real
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada lifted its target to $255 from $220 and kept an Outperform rating, while Robert W. Baird also boosted its target to $265, reinforcing the bullish analyst tone around PANW. RBC raises price target on Palo Alto Networks to 255 from 220, keeps outperform rating
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target to $265 from $215 and highlighted Palo Alto’s identity-security push after CyberArk’s IMPACT26 conference, arguing that AI-driven threats are forcing more enterprise spending on automated security tools. Jefferies Hikes Palo Alto Networks Price Target to 265: AI Is Compressing Attack Timelines
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies and other commentary point to Palo Alto’s new “Idira” platform, which could broaden the company’s identity-security offering and create a new growth engine beyond its core cybersecurity business. Palo Alto advances AI-driven identity strategy with Idira launch, shares gain
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks noted that PANW is drawing unusual investor attention, but the piece was mainly a watchlist-style overview rather than a fresh catalyst. Is Most-Watched Stock Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) Worth Betting on Now?

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $242.83 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.99. The company has a market cap of $198.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 134.16, a PEG ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $245.80.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.