HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 74,826 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 712,780 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 74,826 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.11% of Palo Alto Networks worth $145,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $245.00 target price (up from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group set a $215.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.97.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $166.95 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $223.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $182.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.32.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Long-term bull case highlighted — several analyst/commentary pieces argue PANW remains a structural growth name in cybersecurity and a smart buy for long-term investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company growth deals and product momentum are cited as offsets to recent analyst cuts, reinforcing the view that near-term analyst noise may not derail multi-year growth. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q2 preview: Zacks notes PANW is entering Q2 with mid‑teen revenue growth expectations but flags decelerating ARR momentum and a premium valuation — a key focus for the upcoming print. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary: PANW recently dropped more than the broader market in intraday moves, reflecting short-term volatility ahead of earnings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target cuts: JPMorgan lowered its PANW target to $225, and other firms (Rosenblatt, BTIG) trimmed targets (Rosenblatt to $225; BTIG to $200), which reduces near-term upside expectations despite some firms maintaining “buy” ratings. Read More. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Deal and listing risk: reports say PANW plans a dual listing on the Tel‑Aviv Stock Exchange after closing the ~$25B CyberArk acquisition — there’s short‑term investor concern about integration complexity and political/geographic exposure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/reputational risk: Reuters reports PANW opted not to publicly tie China to a recent global hacking campaign it exposed, citing fears of retaliation — this raises potential client, regulatory and reputation considerations. Read More.

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.