Primecap Management Co. CA Purchases Shares of 1,019,890 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,019,890 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,803,000. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 0.13% of Palo Alto Networks as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $65,796,000 after buying an additional 53,485 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $104,774,000 after buying an additional 29,230 shares during the period. B&D White Capital Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,159,000. Finally, Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% during the first quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Capital One Financial set a $421.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Truist Financial set a $435.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Mizuho set a $415.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.87.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total value of $101,134.60. Following the sale, the director owned 6,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,244,839.38. This trade represents a 4.31% 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 37,935 shares of company stock valued at $10,809,461. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $339.90 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $339.90 and its 200 day moving average is $244.71. The company has a market cap of $277.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 278.61, a PEG ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $398.88.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share 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 net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $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, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised price targets. JPMorgan increased its target from $326 to $384 and maintained an “overweight” rating, while Benchmark raised its target from $340 to $400 and reiterated a “buy” rating. These revisions reflect continued confidence in Palo Alto Networks’ growth prospects. JPMorgan price target article Benchmark price target article
• Positive Sentiment: Cybersecurity demand remains a long-term growth driver. Strong firewall bookings, expanding software revenue and increasing AI-related network traffic are supporting the company’s Network Security outlook. Can Rising Network Security Demand Boost PANW’s Long-Term Growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings are the next major catalyst. Palo Alto Networks was expected to report quarterly results on Tuesday. Investors will focus on billings, recurring software and platform growth, profitability and forward guidance to determine whether the company’s elevated valuation is justified. Palo Alto Networks Expected to Post Earnings on Tuesday
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and profit-taking may be weighing on the stock. Despite favorable analyst commentary, PANW trades at a very high reported P/E ratio of about 279 and has risen sharply over the past year. The decline while the market gained indicates investors may be locking in profits or demanding stronger near-term results before bidding shares higher. Palo Alto Networks Stock Sinks As Market Gains

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.