ProShare Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 42.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,236,644 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 370,076 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $227,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $900,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $190.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.59.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $247.55 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $248.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 136.77, a P/E/G ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $176.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

More Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt Securities raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225 to $275 and kept a buy rating, signaling stronger confidence in the company’s outlook. Rosenblatt Securities Issues Positive Forecast for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho increased its price target from $200 to $265 and maintained an outperform rating, adding to the bullish view from analysts on PANW’s earnings and growth prospects. Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $265.00 at Mizuho
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary from Jim Cramer highlighted Palo Alto Networks as “having the last laugh,” reinforcing investor optimism around the stock’s resilience and market leadership. Jim Cramer Shares Why Palo Alto (PANW) Is Having The Last Laugh
• Neutral Sentiment: One market recap noted PANW advanced while the broader market declined, but the report was mainly descriptive and did not add new fundamental information. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Advances While Market Declines: Some Information for Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: A comparison piece said CrowdStrike currently has an edge over Palo Alto Networks on growth momentum and ARR trends, but this was more of an industry comparison than a direct negative catalyst. CRWD vs. PANW: Which Cybersecurity Stock Has an Edge Right Now?

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,466,400. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora purchased 68,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. This represents a 24.73% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.