Mizuho Markets Cayman LP Makes New $379,000 Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Mizuho Markets Cayman LP acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,367 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $65,796,000 after buying an additional 53,485 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $104,774,000 after buying an additional 29,230 shares during the period. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 4,659 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,926,000 after acquiring an additional 3,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $1,554,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,477,180. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.48.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $335.28 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $297.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $215.80. The stock has a market cap of $273.25 billion, a PE ratio of 274.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $368.80.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter 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. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.