Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stake Raised by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 132,181 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,343 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 1.6% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $26,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% in the third quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the second quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 4,668 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 1,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $186.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $130.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $201.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.32.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Tigress Financial started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price target for the company. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $220.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Stephens upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.20.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total transaction of $132,573.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,864,398.95. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,629,805.65. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock valued at $251,702,305 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Major strategic deal — Palo Alto expanded its partnership with Google Cloud in a multibillion‑dollar agreement (reported as approaching $10B) that includes migrating key internal workloads and deepening cloud/AI security integration; this is being viewed as a material revenue and go‑to‑market catalyst. Google Cloud lands deal with Palo Alto Networks
• Positive Sentiment: Company release and partner messaging reinforce the Reuters report, highlighting expanded cloud + AI security offerings and joint go‑to‑market programs that could accelerate enterprise adoption. Palo Alto Networks and Google Cloud Forge Landmark Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support increased — JPMorgan reinstated coverage with an Overweight rating and $235 PT, and other outlets noted a $250 price target lift, signaling renewed analyst conviction that could attract buyers. JPMorgan Reinstates Palo Alto Networks With Overweight Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Product momentum — Zacks highlights Cortex XSIAM landing larger deals and higher‑spend customers, implying a potential new growth engine that could lift ARR and margins over time. Can Cortex XSIAM Become Palo Alto Networks’ Next Major Growth Engine?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention and monitoring — Zacks notes elevated user interest and recent earnings was modestly followed by a small stock move; this keeps PANW on watch lists but doesn’t by itself change fundamentals. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is Attracting Investor Attention
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑term earnings context — a Zacks note observed the stock is only slightly up since the last earnings release, suggesting the market is parsing guidance and execution details rather than reacting strongly yet. Palo Alto (PANW) Up 0.4% Since Last Earnings Report
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — recent reports show insiders sold roughly $5M in PANW stock, which some investors interpret as a cautionary signal about near‑term insider confidence. Insiders At Palo Alto Networks Sold US$5.0m In Stock

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.