Mad River Investors Buys New Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Mad River Investors purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 5,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,117,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 0.5% of Mad River Investors’ holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,100,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,830 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,093,262,000 after purchasing an additional 169,055 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,177,765,000 after purchasing an additional 950,765 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,295,588 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,083,689,000 after purchasing an additional 377,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $916,099,000 after buying an additional 54,601 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $186.88 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $130.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $201.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.34.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock valued at $251,702,305. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $220.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Tigress Financial began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 target price for the company. Finally, New Street Research raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.20.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.