Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Has $20.80 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. decreased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 112,922 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 3,225 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 1.6% of Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $20,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the third 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third 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 last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,202,776,000 after buying an additional 611,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,356,617 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $802,691,000 after buying an additional 319,751 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: Wells Fargo raised its price target on PANW to $285 from $235 and kept an overweight rating, signaling further upside potential for the cybersecurity leader.
• Positive Sentiment: Truist also boosted its price target ahead of results, reinforcing Wall Street’s improving view of Palo Alto Networks’ earnings and growth outlook. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Gets Major Price Target Boost from Truist Ahead of Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies said customers at the company’s Ignite On Tour event showed strong interest in PANW’s AI security offerings, with acquisitions Portkey and Koi Security attracting attention and little resistance to recent firewall price increases.
• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary continued to highlight cybersecurity as a durable budget priority, with Palo Alto Networks added to Josh Brown’s “best stocks” list alongside other leading security names.
• Neutral Sentiment: One article framed PANW’s strong year-to-date outperformance versus Palantir as a possible rebalancing candidate, but the piece was more about relative performance than a new company-specific catalyst. Palo Alto Networks Is Beating Palantir by 60% This Year. Is a Rebalancing Imminent?
• Neutral Sentiment: Company insider selling by CAO Josh D. Paul was disclosed, though the 400-share sale was relatively small versus his remaining holdings and does not by itself signal a major shift in fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary also pointed to rising AI security demand for products like Prisma AIRS and XSIAM, supporting the long-term growth narrative rather than changing near-term results.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $260.58 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $261.41. The stock has a market cap of $212.63 billion, a PE ratio of 143.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.32.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Berenberg Bank set a $215.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. HSBC decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.33.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $802,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora acquired 68,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. The trade was a 24.73% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,756 shares of company stock worth $5,076,355. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.