Capital Research Global Investors Trims Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Capital Research Global Investors lowered its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,062,988 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,295,420 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors owned approximately 0.30% of Palo Alto Networks worth $420,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased 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 stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $340,883,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $502,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282,738 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,253,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.9% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,104,939 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $430,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,145 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $165.58 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $170.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.91. The stock has a market cap of $135.11 billion, a PE ratio of 91.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm 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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson set a $190.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, New Street Research cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.19.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.