L & S Advisors Inc Has $5.98 Million Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

L & S Advisors Inc trimmed its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 50.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,448 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 32,999 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,512,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,055,031,000 after purchasing an additional 505,924 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,532,902,000 after purchasing an additional 36,511 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,202,776,000 after purchasing an additional 611,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,356,617 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $802,691,000 after purchasing an additional 319,751 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora purchased 68,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. This trade represents a 24.73% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $802,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.98.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $242.83 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $245.80. The company has a market capitalization of $198.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 134.16, a P/E/G ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $174.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.27.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 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: Oppenheimer raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $275 from $245 and reiterated an Outperform rating, signaling confidence that the stock can keep moving higher. Oppenheimer Hikes Palo Alto Networks Price Target to $275: CyberArk Becomes Idira, Identity Security Just Got Real
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada lifted its target to $255 from $220 and kept an Outperform rating, while Robert W. Baird also boosted its target to $265, reinforcing the bullish analyst tone around PANW. RBC raises price target on Palo Alto Networks to 255 from 220, keeps outperform rating
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target to $265 from $215 and highlighted Palo Alto’s identity-security push after CyberArk’s IMPACT26 conference, arguing that AI-driven threats are forcing more enterprise spending on automated security tools. Jefferies Hikes Palo Alto Networks Price Target to 265: AI Is Compressing Attack Timelines
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies and other commentary point to Palo Alto’s new “Idira” platform, which could broaden the company’s identity-security offering and create a new growth engine beyond its core cybersecurity business. Palo Alto advances AI-driven identity strategy with Idira launch, shares gain
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks noted that PANW is drawing unusual investor attention, but the piece was mainly a watchlist-style overview rather than a fresh catalyst. Is Most-Watched Stock Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) Worth Betting on Now?

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.