Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Bought by GF Fund Management CO. LTD.

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 163,494 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,152 shares during the quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $33,291,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,100,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,830 shares during the period. 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 acquiring an additional 169,055 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position 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 valued at $1,083,689,000 after acquiring an additional 377,496 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 54,601 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $675,865,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.5%

PANW stock opened at $166.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $116.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.66, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.26. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61.

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

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Long-term bull case highlighted — several analyst/commentary pieces argue PANW remains a structural growth name in cybersecurity and a smart buy for long-term investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company growth deals and product momentum are cited as offsets to recent analyst cuts, reinforcing the view that near-term analyst noise may not derail multi-year growth. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q2 preview: Zacks notes PANW is entering Q2 with mid‑teen revenue growth expectations but flags decelerating ARR momentum and a premium valuation — a key focus for the upcoming print. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary: PANW recently dropped more than the broader market in intraday moves, reflecting short-term volatility ahead of earnings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target cuts: JPMorgan lowered its PANW target to $225, and other firms (Rosenblatt, BTIG) trimmed targets (Rosenblatt to $225; BTIG to $200), which reduces near-term upside expectations despite some firms maintaining “buy” ratings. Read More. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Deal and listing risk: reports say PANW plans a dual listing on the Tel‑Aviv Stock Exchange after closing the ~$25B CyberArk acquisition — there’s short‑term investor concern about integration complexity and political/geographic exposure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/reputational risk: Reuters reports PANW opted not to publicly tie China to a recent global hacking campaign it exposed, citing fears of retaliation — this raises potential client, regulatory and reputation considerations. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. HSBC lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective 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. Barclays set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.97.

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.