Great Lakes Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors bought 16,063 Palo Alto Networks shares worth approximately $5.48 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Palo Alto Networks exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.85 in EPS versus $0.79 expected and $3 billion in revenue, up 31.1% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and $360.89 average price target, but PANW’s elevated valuation—about 295 times earnings—and recent cybersecurity-sector selling create downside risks.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 16,063 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,478,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Pacific Sun Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth about $252,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,366,000. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $7,332,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $170,155,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target for Palo Alto Networks from $340 to $425 and maintained an “overweight” rating, implying substantial potential upside from recent trading levels. Cantor Fitzgerald price-target update
• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto Networks introduced its Frontier AI Critical Defense Program, a collaboration focused on protecting critical infrastructure from AI-driven vulnerabilities. The initiative could strengthen PANW’s positioning in the growing AI-security market, although its near-term financial impact is unclear. Frontier AI Critical Defense Program announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen reportedly expects strong appreciation for PANW shares, while other brokerage coverage gives the stock a “Moderate Buy” average recommendation. These views support the long-term outlook but did not prevent near-term selling. TD Cowen forecast
• Neutral Sentiment: A lawmaker’s disclosed purchases of several cybersecurity stocks highlight continued investor and policy interest in the sector, but the purchases were not specific to Palo Alto Networks and are unlikely to materially affect PANW’s valuation. Cybersecurity stock purchases
• Negative Sentiment: Cybersecurity shares sold off broadly, with CrowdStrike declining sharply despite a higher Truist price target; Palo Alto Networks also fell during the session. The sector move appears to be the main immediate pressure on PANW. Cybersecurity sector selloff
• Negative Sentiment: Investors may also be taking profits after a substantial rally. With PANW trading at a very elevated earnings multiple, strong growth expectations leave the stock vulnerable when sector sentiment weakens or positive news fails to exceed expectations. Palo Alto Networks trading update

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total transaction of $242,795.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,898 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. The trade was a 10.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,598,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,839 shares of company stock worth $27,079,580. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $359.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $293.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 294.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.55 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $334.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $239.69. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $398.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $180.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. New Street Research set a $415.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $360.89.

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.

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