Ingalls & Snyder LLC Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Ingalls & Snyder LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 29,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,564 shares during the quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 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. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $340,883,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew 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 valued at $430,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,145 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3,881.4% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 721,157 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $146,842,000 after buying an additional 703,044 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

More Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 beats and solid growth — PANW posted $1.03 EPS and roughly $2.6B revenue (≈15% YoY), topping estimates and showing Next‑Generation Security ARR up ~33%, evidence of durable demand. Palo Alto Networks Reports Fiscal Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue outlook upgraded — management raised full‑year revenue guidance to about $11.28B–$11.31B, a meaningful lift vs. prior range, signaling top‑line confidence. Palo Alto Networks Lifts Revenue Outlook as Second-Quarter Profit Jumps
• Neutral Sentiment: Product and research initiatives aim to monetize AI security demand — launches like MSIAM 2.0 and a Unit 42 report highlight strategic focus on AI‑era threats, supportive longer‑term catalysts but not immediate earnings relief. Palo Alto Networks Introduces MSIAM 2.0
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst activity mixed — some price‑target trims (e.g., Mizuho) but buy/positive ratings remain; watch revisions for guidance sensitivity. Price Target Lowered by Mizuho
• Negative Sentiment: Profit and cost concerns weighed on shares — management flagged rising costs tied to recent deals and cut/trimmed annual profit expectations, which the market interpreted as margin pressure from acquisitions. Palo Alto Networks cuts annual profit forecast as deal costs bite, shares fall
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term profit/guidance reaction — despite raising FY revenue, the company’s quarterly profit guidance and messaging around margins disappointed some investors, contributing to after‑hours/early selling. Palo Alto Networks slumps 6% as third quarter profit guidance falls short
• Negative Sentiment: Acquisition (Koi) raised execution and cost concerns — the announced Koi deal aims to expand AI endpoint capabilities but added short‑term integration/cost uncertainty that pressured sentiment. Palo Alto Networks Announces Intent to Acquire Koi

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PANW. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. BTIG Research cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $248.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.89.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.1%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $163.50 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $223.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.96 billion, a PE ratio of 103.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous 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. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.