State Street Corp Acquires 594,789 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 594,789 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,587,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aviva PLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $104,774,000 after acquiring an additional 29,230 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $75,412,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,926,000 after acquiring an additional 3,926 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $136,859,000 after acquiring an additional 384,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $277,828,000 after acquiring an additional 8,344 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Arete Research upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.59.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,103,105. The trade was a 3.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora purchased 68,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. This trade represents a 24.73% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 81,044 shares of company stock worth $20,424,722. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $279.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $302.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $216.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $189.22. The stock has a market cap of $227.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 229.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 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.