North Dakota State Investment Board Acquires Shares of 22,518 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board opened a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter, buying 22,518 shares valued at about $4.15 million.
• Institutional interest in PANW remains strong, with large investors like Vanguard, State Street, and others adding to their stakes; roughly 79.82% of the stock is held by hedge funds and institutions.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly bullish: analysts including Oppenheimer, RBC, and Jefferies have raised price targets, and the consensus rating is currently Moderate Buy with a target price of about $214.98.

North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 22,518 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,148,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $6,055,031,000 after purchasing an additional 505,924 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,532,902,000 after purchasing an additional 36,511 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,202,776,000 after purchasing an additional 611,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,356,617 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $802,691,000 after purchasing an additional 319,751 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PANW shares. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $275.00 price objective (up from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday. Arete Research raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.98.

More Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $275 from $245 and reiterated an Outperform rating, signaling confidence that the stock can keep moving higher. Oppenheimer Hikes Palo Alto Networks Price Target to $275: CyberArk Becomes Idira, Identity Security Just Got Real
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada lifted its target to $255 from $220 and kept an Outperform rating, while Robert W. Baird also boosted its target to $265, reinforcing the bullish analyst tone around PANW. RBC raises price target on Palo Alto Networks to 255 from 220, keeps outperform rating
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target to $265 from $215 and highlighted Palo Alto’s identity-security push after CyberArk’s IMPACT26 conference, arguing that AI-driven threats are forcing more enterprise spending on automated security tools. Jefferies Hikes Palo Alto Networks Price Target to 265: AI Is Compressing Attack Timelines
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies and other commentary point to Palo Alto’s new “Idira” platform, which could broaden the company’s identity-security offering and create a new growth engine beyond its core cybersecurity business. Palo Alto advances AI-driven identity strategy with Idira launch, shares gain
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks noted that PANW is drawing unusual investor attention, but the piece was mainly a watchlist-style overview rather than a fresh catalyst. Is Most-Watched Stock Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) Worth Betting on Now?

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $242.83 on Monday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $174.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.99. The company has a market capitalization of $198.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 134.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $245.80.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company's revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total transaction of $177,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 83,136 shares in the company, valued at $13,418,150.40. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575 over 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.

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