Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE lessened its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 50.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,480 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 20,981 shares during the quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $420 from $325 and kept an overweight rating, signaling further upside potential. Wells Fargo target raise
• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane lifted its target to $380 from $330 and reiterated an outperform rating, adding to the bullish analyst tone around PANW. BNP Paribas Exane target raise
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research also raised its target to $380 from $333 and maintained a buy rating, reinforcing expectations for continued share-price strength. BTIG target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlighted PANW’s strong fiscal Q3 results, with revenue and ARR beats and growing demand tied to AI-driven cybersecurity and observability, which has helped keep sentiment constructive. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several insiders sold small blocks of stock, including CAO Josh D. Paul and Director Aparna Bawa. While routine, insider selling can modestly temper enthusiasm for the stock. SEC filing

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.15.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $352.04 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $358.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $251.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $199.26. The company has a market cap of $286.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 288.56, a P/E/G ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm 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. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total value of $101,134.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,244,839.38. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,477,180. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 102,111 shares of company stock worth $27,204,024 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.