Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,413,713 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 26,718 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $997,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Steph & Co. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Arete Research upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Capital One Financial upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $168.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.33.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $260.58 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $183.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $182.06. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $261.41. The company has a market capitalization of $212.63 billion, a PE ratio of 143.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.77.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on PANW to $285 from $235 and kept an overweight rating, signaling further upside potential for the cybersecurity leader.
• Positive Sentiment: Truist also boosted its price target ahead of results, reinforcing Wall Street’s improving view of Palo Alto Networks’ earnings and growth outlook. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Gets Major Price Target Boost from Truist Ahead of Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies said customers at the company’s Ignite On Tour event showed strong interest in PANW’s AI security offerings, with acquisitions Portkey and Koi Security attracting attention and little resistance to recent firewall price increases.
• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary continued to highlight cybersecurity as a durable budget priority, with Palo Alto Networks added to Josh Brown’s “best stocks” list alongside other leading security names.
• Neutral Sentiment: One article framed PANW’s strong year-to-date outperformance versus Palantir as a possible rebalancing candidate, but the piece was more about relative performance than a new company-specific catalyst. Palo Alto Networks Is Beating Palantir by 60% This Year. Is a Rebalancing Imminent?
• Neutral Sentiment: Company insider selling by CAO Josh D. Paul was disclosed, though the 400-share sale was relatively small versus his remaining holdings and does not by itself signal a major shift in fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary also pointed to rising AI security demand for products like Prisma AIRS and XSIAM, supporting the long-term growth narrative rather than changing near-term results.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $802,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,434,276.78. This trade represents a 24.73% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 30,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,076,355 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.