Root Financial Partners LLC Purchases 2,018 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 256.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,018 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,055,031,000 after buying an additional 505,924 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,934,935,000 after buying an additional 540,756 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $1,415,364,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,532,902,000 after buying an additional 36,511 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at $24,103,105. The trade was a 3.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total transaction of $313,588.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 81,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,272,790.88. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 94,760 shares of company stock worth $21,660,063. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $297.18 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $302.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 164.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. The business’s 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.23.

Key Headlines Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto Networks beat fiscal Q3 earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $0.85 versus $0.81 expected and revenue of $3.0 billion versus $2.94 billion estimated, with sales up 31.1% year over year. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised full-year and fourth-quarter guidance well above Wall Street forecasts, signaling stronger demand and better profitability ahead. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management said AI-driven security needs are boosting customer engagement, with CEO Nikesh Arora citing a surge in meeting requests as enterprises prepare for AI-related risks. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst notes were bullish ahead of and after the report, including price-target increases from JPMorgan and Baird, reinforcing confidence in the company’s growth outlook. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also completed its acquisition of Portkey, an AI gateway provider, which may support its Prisma AIRS platform and future AI-security offerings, but the immediate financial impact is still unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One insider sale by the company’s chief accounting officer may create a small headline overhang, though it was limited relative to the stock’s recent rally. Article Title

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.