Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 6,031 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 24.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,128 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 6,031 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $675,865,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $502,263,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282,738 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,290,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,589 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.9% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,104,939 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $430,755,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $162,161,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $153.22 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The firm has a market cap of $125.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.65, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $165.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This trade represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 144,252 shares of company stock valued at $26,947,635. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.19.

More Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Prisma AIRS 3.0 launch — Palo Alto rolled out Prisma AIRS 3.0 to secure autonomous AI agents, strengthening its position in AI-native security and widening its platform coverage (helps deepen customer relationships and supports higher recurring revenue). Palo Alto Networks blog: Prisma AIRS 3.0
• Positive Sentiment: Prisma Browser / SASE adoption — Analyst commentary highlights Prisma Browser as a growth engine for PANW’s SASE strategy as enterprises look for integrated security for users, apps and cloud — a tailwind for subscription and platform expansion. Zacks: Prisma Browser and SASE growth
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst Buy rating remains — Freedom Capital Markets reiterated a Buy on PANW after strong Q2 results, signaling continued institutional conviction even as it trimmed its price target. Yahoo / Finance: Buy rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry narrative supports long-term demand — Market commentary frames autonomous security as a durable spending cycle benefiting incumbents like PANW; this is a strategic positive but not an immediate price catalyst on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting anomalies — Multiple data feeds flagged a “large increase” in March short interest but show 0 shares / NaN changes, indicating unreliable or erroneous data; ambiguous near-term impact until clarified by exchanges or the data provider.
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term selling pressure — Coverage noting the stock dropped despite broader market gains points to profit-taking, valuation concerns and short-term technical weakness that are pressuring the share price today. Zacks: Stock drops despite market gains

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.