Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Position Boosted by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 134.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 384,985 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $136,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the third quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the third quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the third quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $148.92 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $174.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $190.89. The stock has a market cap of $121.52 billion, a PE ratio of 82.28, a PEG ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 259,842 shares of company stock worth $49,778,422 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.62.

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.