Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Nicollet Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Nicollet Investment Management cut its Palo Alto Networks stake by 48.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 15,550 shares and ending with 16,399 shares valued at about $3.0 million.
• Other institutional investors remained active in PANW, including a large new position from Norges Bank and increased holdings by firms like Vanguard, while roughly 79.8% of the stock is owned by institutions and hedge funds.
• Wall Street sentiment is still broadly positive: PANW has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and a consensus price target of $306.59, with recent analyst targets ranging from $220 to $333.

Nicollet Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 48.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,399 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 15,550 shares during the period. Nicollet Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,021,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $1,415,364,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $502,263,000 after buying an additional 1,282,738 shares during the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $164,968,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $162,161,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group set a $300.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $268.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. New Street Research decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $306.59.

More Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and industry commentary highlighted rapid adoption of Prisma AIRS, with customer growth and larger AI security deals suggesting this could become a major new growth engine for Palo Alto Networks. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage emphasized Palo Alto Networks’ $10 billion revenue run-rate and strong long-term stock performance, reinforcing the view that the company is still expanding beyond its legacy firewall business. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank slightly raised FY2027 EPS estimates and kept a Sector Outperform rating with a $320 price target, which supports the bullish case for the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Northland Securities maintained a Market Perform rating and a $302 price target, signaling a mixed but not outright bearish stance.
• Negative Sentiment: Northland and Scotiabank lowered some near-term EPS estimates, which could temper enthusiasm if investors focus more on valuation and short-term margin expectations than on longer-term AI growth.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $263.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $214.52 billion, a PE ratio of 215.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.67 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $211.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $302.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion during 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. This represents a 24.73% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,466,400. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 72,076 shares of company stock valued at $17,930,587. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.