Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc modestly increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.2% in Q3, adding 10,751 shares to hold 5,440,431 shares (about 0.80% of the company) worth roughly $1.108 billion, while institutional investors collectively own ~79.82% of PANW.
• Palo Alto Networks beat quarterly expectations (EPS $1.03 vs. $0.94; revenue $2.59B vs. $2.58B) and issued FY2026 guidance of $3.65–3.70 EPS with Q3 guidance of $0.78–0.80.
• The stock carries a large market cap (~$134.7B) and a high valuation (P/E ~91), and analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target around $210.19 after several target revisions.

Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,440,431 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,751 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.80% of Palo Alto Networks worth $1,107,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,093,262,000 after purchasing an additional 169,055 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,202,776,000 after purchasing an additional 611,375 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $916,099,000 after purchasing an additional 54,601 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $675,865,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 target price (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, New Street Research lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $165.10 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $171.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $190.06. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The stock has a market cap of $134.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. 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, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 126,568 shares of company stock valued at $24,159,059 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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