Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stake Increased by Mufg Securities Americas Inc.

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,426 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,066 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PANW. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,587,100,000 after purchasing an additional 594,789 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,681,876 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,734,973,000 after purchasing an additional 205,123 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,934,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,415,364,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $371.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $302.85 billion, a PE ratio of 304.58, a PEG ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $344.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $248.45. 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 twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $398.88.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PANW. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 target price (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, New Street Research set a $415.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.42.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark raised its price target to $400 from $340 and maintained a Buy rating, citing potential upside to next-generation security annual recurring revenue, revenue, operating income and margins. The forecast reinforces expectations that Palo Alto Networks’ AI-security strategy is gaining traction. Palo Alto Networks Gets a $400 Target
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are taking confidence from CrowdStrike’s stronger-than-expected results, which highlighted robust AI-related cybersecurity demand and lifted sentiment across the sector. Palo Alto Networks is viewed as a potential beneficiary of the same spending cycle. Palo Alto Networks Stock Trades Up
• Positive Sentiment: Platformization, adoption of AI-security products and recent deal wins are expected to support fourth-quarter growth. BTIG also assigned PANW a Buy rating, adding to broadly favorable analyst coverage. Palo Alto Networks to Report Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings are the next major catalyst. Traders expect potentially significant movement after the report, while analysts are watching recurring revenue, margins, operating income and guidance—not just revenue and EPS. Expected Post-Earnings Stock Move
• Negative Sentiment: Acquisition-related costs could pressure results, and the stock’s triple-digit P/E ratio—above 300 based on the supplied data—means much of the AI-growth outlook may already be reflected in the price. Any shortfall in growth or guidance could trigger profit-taking. Palo Alto’s Rally Has One Big Problem Ahead of Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Chief Accounting Officer Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares for approximately $318,000, reducing his position by 1.21%. The transaction is small relative to his remaining holdings but may create a modest sentiment headwind. Palo Alto Networks Insider Sale

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. This represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.77, for a total transaction of $318,393.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 73,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,950,444.58. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 38,835 shares of company stock worth $11,127,854 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.