Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates cut its Palo Alto Networks stake by 5.3% in the second quarter, selling 57,155 shares and retaining 1.03 million shares valued at about $350.7 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly EPS of $0.85, exceeding the $0.79 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 31.1% year over year to $3 billion. The stock opened at $371.59, near its 12-month high of $398.88.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $368.42, but PANW’s valuation is a major risk: its price-to-earnings ratio exceeds 300, leaving the stock vulnerable if growth, margins or guidance disappoint.

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,028,476 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 57,155 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.13% of Palo Alto Networks worth $350,731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock 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 market capitalization of $302.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 304.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 0.91. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $344.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $248.45.

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 company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

More Palo Alto Networks News

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

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $326.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen increased their target price on 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, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $345.00 target price (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $368.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $3,490,500. The trade was a 37.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total value of $313,588.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,272,790.88. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,835 shares of company stock valued at $11,127,854. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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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