Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Buys 6,478 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Royal London Asset Management increased its Palo Alto Networks position by 1.7%, buying 6,478 shares to hold 388,809 shares valued at approximately $132.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $368.42, while several firms raised targets as high as $400 based on expected AI-security and platformization growth.
• Valuation and upcoming earnings are key risks: PANW traded near $371.59 with a P/E ratio above 300, and insiders sold 38,835 shares worth $11.1 million during the latest quarter. Investors will focus on recurring revenue, margins, guidance and whether AI-driven growth justifies the stock’s premium valuation.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 388,809 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,478 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $132,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,898 shares in the company, valued at $2,045,721.30. This represents a 10.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at $42,058,590. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,835 shares of company stock valued at $11,127,854. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.42.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $371.59 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $302.85 billion, a PE ratio of 304.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $344.62 and a 200-day moving average of $248.45. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $398.88.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released 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 business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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.

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