Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 30.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 157,025 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,629 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $31,973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism: recent articles highlight Wall Street bullishness on PANW and discuss whether the stock is a buy, supporting positive sentiment around the name. Wall Street Bulls Look Optimistic About Palo Alto (PANW): Should You Buy?
• Positive Sentiment: Pre-market strength: PANW was mentioned among names rising in premarket trade, a short-term technical/flow positive that can lift momentum. Bank of America, Honeywell and Palo Alto rise premarket; Wells Fargo falls
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings‑surprise scanner note: Zacks promoted its Earnings ESP tool as a way to find potential beats in the computer & technology sector — useful for investors but not specific proof PANW will surprise. These 2 Computer and Technology Stocks Could Beat Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive/sector development: CrowdStrike’s $740M SGNL acquisition highlights identity/security consolidation and product evolution in the endpoint/identity market — a strategic move that shifts competitive dynamics but is not an immediate PANW-specific earnings event. Investors should watch how PANW responds strategically. Why CrowdStrike’s SGNL Acquisition Matters for CRWD Stock
• Negative Sentiment: KeyCorp lowered/issued quarterly EPS forecasts for 2027: analyst E. Heath provided Q1–Q4 2027 EPS estimates (Q1 $0.60, Q2 $0.61, Q3 $0.55, Q4 $0.73) implying full‑year pressure versus recent results; lower near‑term EPS expectations can weigh on shares if investors had higher growth assumptions. KeyCorp Q1–Q4 2027 EPS Estimates for Palo Alto Networks
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Lee Klarich, a senior executive, sold 120,768 PANW shares — a sale of this size can be interpreted negatively by the market even if it’s routine diversification. Lee Klarich Sells 120,768 Shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $220.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 382,016 shares of company stock valued at $76,386,460 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $187.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $130.85 billion, a PE ratio of 118.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $191.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.80. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.