Public Sector Pension Investment Board Has $19.98 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 56.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,109 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,400 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $19,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 515.0% in the 3rd quarter. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 53,111 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $10,814,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 39.7% in the third quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 176 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 26.6% in the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 60,382 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,295,000 after buying an additional 12,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 112,776 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $22,963,000 after buying an additional 9,000 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, 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. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.97.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $166.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.75. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.27.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the 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 directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.