Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Makes New $75.41 Million Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 370,359 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,412,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 186.3% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 743 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $144.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $118.19 billion, a PE ratio of 80.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $176.09 and a 200-day moving average of $191.11. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. 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, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Argus raised Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.62.

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.