Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Buys 7,127 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 32.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,237 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 7,127 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $675,865,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $340,883,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,290,270,000 after buying an additional 1,253,589 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.9% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,104,939 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $430,755,000 after buying an additional 1,041,145 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3,881.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 721,157 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $146,842,000 after acquiring an additional 703,044 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Truist Financial set a $200.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Thirty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.51.

More Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto announced the planned acquisition of Koi, a startup focused on agentic endpoint security — a strategic move to plug AI-related security gaps and expand its AI/security platform footprint. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) to Acquire Koi
• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto filed an offer relating to CyberArk’s convertible notes tied to its CyberArk acquisition, signaling active balance-sheet management as it closes recent M&A. This helps reassure investors that integration and financing steps are being executed. Palo Alto Networks Announces Offer to Purchase Relating to CyberArk Software Ltd.’s Notes
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarter showed revenue and EPS roughly in line-to-slightly-better-than expectations and management raised revenue guidance at the low end, supporting the case for durable topline growth driven by platform and subscription momentum. (Company releases and analyst coverage)
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms reiterated Outperform/Buy ratings (e.g., Citizens JMP, Wedbush, RBC, Rosenblatt) — indicating pockets of institutional confidence even as some analysts trimmed estimates.
• Negative Sentiment: A cluster of analyst downgrades and price-target cuts hit PANW, driving headline selling and raising near-term skepticism about margin recovery amid integration costs. See coverage of the downgrade-driven selloff. Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 6.8% on Analyst Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Susquehanna cut its price target (and multiple banks including Goldman, HSBC, Mizuho, BMO and others issued more pessimistic forecasts or lowered targets), amplifying pressure on the stock’s near-term outlook. Susquehanna Lowers Palo Alto Networks Price Target to $200.00
• Negative Sentiment: HSBC notably cut its target to $114, highlighting the range of analyst views and contributing to sentiment-driven selling. HSBC Adjusts Price Target on Palo Alto Networks to $114
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put-option buying and elevated volume/gap-down trading indicate traders are positioned for further near-term weakness; this increases volatility and can exacerbate downward moves until clarity on integration costs and margin recovery arrives.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $148.70 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.15, a P/E/G ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.