Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE

Key Points

• Smithbridge Asset Management cut its Palo Alto Networks stake by 50.6% in the first quarter, selling 20,981 shares and leaving it with 20,480 shares valued at about $3.28 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains bullish, with multiple firms raising price targets, including Wells Fargo to $420, BNP Paribas Exane to $380, and BTIG to $380. The stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.
• Palo Alto Networks posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while shares traded up 3.2% near their 52-week high. The company also gave FY2026 guidance above many analysts’ expectations.

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE trimmed its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 50.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,480 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 20,981 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,587,100,000 after purchasing an additional 594,789 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,568,964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065,776 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,934,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $420 from $325 and kept an overweight rating, signaling further upside potential. Wells Fargo target raise
• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane lifted its target to $380 from $330 and reiterated an outperform rating, adding to the bullish analyst tone around PANW. BNP Paribas Exane target raise
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research also raised its target to $380 from $333 and maintained a buy rating, reinforcing expectations for continued share-price strength. BTIG target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlighted PANW’s strong fiscal Q3 results, with revenue and ARR beats and growing demand tied to AI-driven cybersecurity and observability, which has helped keep sentiment constructive. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several insiders sold small blocks of stock, including CAO Josh D. Paul and Director Aparna Bawa. While routine, insider selling can modestly temper enthusiasm for the stock. SEC filing

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of PANW opened at $352.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $358.10. The stock has a market cap of $286.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 288.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $251.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $199.26.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company 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. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. FBN Securities restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $315.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $316.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,477,180. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This trade represents a 37.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 102,111 shares of company stock valued at $27,204,024. 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PANW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report).

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.