Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 178,986 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 33.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 712,539 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 178,986 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $131,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $136,859,000 after purchasing an additional 384,985 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $277,828,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,926,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments Management Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 54,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,077,000 after purchasing an additional 15,091 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.23.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $297.18 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $242.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 164.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $302.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $195.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.31.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. 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. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Trending Headlines about 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

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora purchased 68,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the purchase, 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. This trade represents a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 94,760 shares of company stock worth $21,660,063. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.