Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Acquires 8,527 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,615 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 8,527 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 1.2% of Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $42,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $25,833,462,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,415,364,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,968,304,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,569,755,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,481,236,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total transaction of $313,588.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,272,790.88. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. This trade represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,835 shares of company stock worth $11,127,854. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.42.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $371.59 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $398.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $302.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 304.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average is $344.62 and its 200-day moving average is $248.45.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $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. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark raised its price target to $400 from $340 and maintained a Buy rating, citing potential upside to next-generation security annual recurring revenue, revenue, operating income and margins. The forecast reinforces expectations that Palo Alto Networks’ AI-security strategy is gaining traction. Palo Alto Networks Gets a $400 Target
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are taking confidence from CrowdStrike’s stronger-than-expected results, which highlighted robust AI-related cybersecurity demand and lifted sentiment across the sector. Palo Alto Networks is viewed as a potential beneficiary of the same spending cycle. Palo Alto Networks Stock Trades Up
• Positive Sentiment: Platformization, adoption of AI-security products and recent deal wins are expected to support fourth-quarter growth. BTIG also assigned PANW a Buy rating, adding to broadly favorable analyst coverage. Palo Alto Networks to Report Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings are the next major catalyst. Traders expect potentially significant movement after the report, while analysts are watching recurring revenue, margins, operating income and guidance—not just revenue and EPS. Expected Post-Earnings Stock Move
• Negative Sentiment: Acquisition-related costs could pressure results, and the stock’s triple-digit P/E ratio—above 300 based on the supplied data—means much of the AI-growth outlook may already be reflected in the price. Any shortfall in growth or guidance could trigger profit-taking. Palo Alto’s Rally Has One Big Problem Ahead of Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Chief Accounting Officer Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares for approximately $318,000, reducing his position by 1.21%. The transaction is small relative to his remaining holdings but may create a modest sentiment headwind. Palo Alto Networks Insider Sale

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.