Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Position Raised by State of Wisconsin Investment Board

State of Wisconsin Investment Board raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 369,914 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,557 shares during the period. State of Wisconsin Investment Board’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $68,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Steph & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% during the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $279.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $221.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick 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 $302.95. The company has a market capitalization of $228.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 229.43, a P/E/G ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 0.94.

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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Benchmark increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $3,490,500. This trade represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,037,002.95. This trade represents a 21.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 101,044 shares of company stock worth $26,022,722 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.