Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by Wellington Management Group LLP

Key Points

• Wellington Management increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 68.7% in the second quarter, purchasing 1.13 million additional shares and bringing its holdings to 2.77 million shares valued at approximately $946 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of PANW, with BlackRock, Norges Bank, Legal & General, Bank of New York Mellon and Deutsche Bank among other major recent investors.
• Palo Alto Networks recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, but its valuation remains demanding at a P/E above 300. Analysts are generally bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus, while upcoming earnings will test whether AI-security growth and margins justify the stock’s premium.

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 68.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,774,225 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,129,480 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.34% of Palo Alto Networks worth $946,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $25,833,462,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,415,364,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,968,304,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,569,755,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $1,481,236,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $371.59 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $398.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $344.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $248.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $302.85 billion, a PE ratio of 304.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. 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. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark raised its price target to $400 from $340 and maintained a Buy rating, citing potential upside to next-generation security annual recurring revenue, revenue, operating income and margins. The forecast reinforces expectations that Palo Alto Networks’ AI-security strategy is gaining traction. Palo Alto Networks Gets a $400 Target
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are taking confidence from CrowdStrike’s stronger-than-expected results, which highlighted robust AI-related cybersecurity demand and lifted sentiment across the sector. Palo Alto Networks is viewed as a potential beneficiary of the same spending cycle. Palo Alto Networks Stock Trades Up
• Positive Sentiment: Platformization, adoption of AI-security products and recent deal wins are expected to support fourth-quarter growth. BTIG also assigned PANW a Buy rating, adding to broadly favorable analyst coverage. Palo Alto Networks to Report Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings are the next major catalyst. Traders expect potentially significant movement after the report, while analysts are watching recurring revenue, margins, operating income and guidance—not just revenue and EPS. Expected Post-Earnings Stock Move
• Negative Sentiment: Acquisition-related costs could pressure results, and the stock’s triple-digit P/E ratio—above 300 based on the supplied data—means much of the AI-growth outlook may already be reflected in the price. Any shortfall in growth or guidance could trigger profit-taking. Palo Alto’s Rally Has One Big Problem Ahead of Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Chief Accounting Officer Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares for approximately $318,000, reducing his position by 1.21%. The transaction is small relative to his remaining holdings but may create a modest sentiment headwind. Palo Alto Networks Insider Sale

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Northland Securities increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Argus set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,058,590. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,835 shares of company stock worth $11,127,854. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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