Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stake Trimmed by Private Capital Advisors Inc.

Private Capital Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 137,958 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 14,440 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 2.6% of Private Capital Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Private Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $25,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 505,924 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 36,511 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 611,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 319,751 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $260.58 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $183.29 and its 200 day moving average is $182.32. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $261.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.63 billion, a PE ratio of 143.97, a P/E/G ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.95, for a total value of $94,780.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 82,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,604,295.20. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $802,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 30,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,076,355 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Capital One Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $168.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.33.

Trending Headlines about Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on PANW to $285 from $235 and kept an overweight rating, signaling further upside potential for the cybersecurity leader.
• Positive Sentiment: Truist also boosted its price target ahead of results, reinforcing Wall Street’s improving view of Palo Alto Networks’ earnings and growth outlook. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Gets Major Price Target Boost from Truist Ahead of Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies said customers at the company’s Ignite On Tour event showed strong interest in PANW’s AI security offerings, with acquisitions Portkey and Koi Security attracting attention and little resistance to recent firewall price increases.
• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary continued to highlight cybersecurity as a durable budget priority, with Palo Alto Networks added to Josh Brown’s “best stocks” list alongside other leading security names.
• Neutral Sentiment: One article framed PANW’s strong year-to-date outperformance versus Palantir as a possible rebalancing candidate, but the piece was more about relative performance than a new company-specific catalyst. Palo Alto Networks Is Beating Palantir by 60% This Year. Is a Rebalancing Imminent?
• Neutral Sentiment: Company insider selling by CAO Josh D. Paul was disclosed, though the 400-share sale was relatively small versus his remaining holdings and does not by itself signal a major shift in fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary also pointed to rising AI security demand for products like Prisma AIRS and XSIAM, supporting the long-term growth narrative rather than changing near-term results.

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.