Washington Trust Bank Decreases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Washington Trust Bank reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,007 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,851 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.3% of Washington Trust Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $18,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 32.2% in the 2nd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 40,200 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,709,000 after buying an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 388,809 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $132,592,000 after acquiring an additional 6,478 shares in the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.2% in the second quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 24,426 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,330,000 after acquiring an additional 2,066 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 226,065 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $77,093,000 after purchasing an additional 28,536 shares during the period. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan now owns 240,842 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $82,132,000 after buying an additional 15,079 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.9%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $371.59 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $398.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $344.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $248.45. The firm has a market cap of $302.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 304.58, a PEG ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This trade represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 38,835 shares of company stock worth $11,127,854 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.42.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark raised its price target to $400 from $340 and maintained a Buy rating, citing potential upside to next-generation security annual recurring revenue, revenue, operating income and margins. The forecast reinforces expectations that Palo Alto Networks’ AI-security strategy is gaining traction. Palo Alto Networks Gets a $400 Target
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are taking confidence from CrowdStrike’s stronger-than-expected results, which highlighted robust AI-related cybersecurity demand and lifted sentiment across the sector. Palo Alto Networks is viewed as a potential beneficiary of the same spending cycle. Palo Alto Networks Stock Trades Up
• Positive Sentiment: Platformization, adoption of AI-security products and recent deal wins are expected to support fourth-quarter growth. BTIG also assigned PANW a Buy rating, adding to broadly favorable analyst coverage. Palo Alto Networks to Report Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings are the next major catalyst. Traders expect potentially significant movement after the report, while analysts are watching recurring revenue, margins, operating income and guidance—not just revenue and EPS. Expected Post-Earnings Stock Move
• Negative Sentiment: Acquisition-related costs could pressure results, and the stock’s triple-digit P/E ratio—above 300 based on the supplied data—means much of the AI-growth outlook may already be reflected in the price. Any shortfall in growth or guidance could trigger profit-taking. Palo Alto’s Rally Has One Big Problem Ahead of Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Chief Accounting Officer Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares for approximately $318,000, reducing his position by 1.21%. The transaction is small relative to his remaining holdings but may create a modest sentiment headwind. Palo Alto Networks Insider Sale

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.