Pincus Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 2,850 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Pincus Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,850 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $525,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position 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 valued at $6,055,031,000 after acquiring an additional 505,924 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $2,934,935,000 after acquiring an additional 540,756 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,415,364,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position 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 valued at $1,532,902,000 after acquiring an additional 36,511 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $300 from $200 and kept an overweight rating, signaling continued optimism about the company’s growth outlook. JPMorgan price target update
• Positive Sentiment: Robert W. Baird also lifted its price target to $300 from $265 and reiterated an outperform rating, reinforcing the view that PANW can sustain momentum into earnings. Baird price target update
• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto Networks completed its acquisition of Portkey, an AI gateway provider, which should strengthen its Prisma AIRS platform and expand its AI-security offerings. Portkey acquisition article
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple articles note that PANW is approaching its earnings release, with traders expecting a meaningful post-earnings move; that keeps attention on the stock but does not by itself confirm direction. Earnings watch article
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer said the stock “tends to run into the quarter,” reflecting a seasonal trading thesis rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Jim Cramer commentary

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,466,400. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,660 shares of company stock valued at $21,346,475. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Argus raised Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Capital One Financial upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $168.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.23.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $300.48 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $302.95. The stock has a market cap of $245.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 166.01, a PEG ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $195.20 and a 200-day moving average of $184.31.

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.