Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Russell Investments trimmed its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 18.1% in Q3, selling 127,805 shares and now holds 576,449 shares worth about $117.4 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers, disposing of 126,568 shares (~$24.16 million) over the past 90 days—most notably EVP Lee Klarich's sale of 120,768 shares, a 28.78% reduction; insiders now own 1.40% of the stock.
• Wall Street maintains a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a target of $210.19; Palo Alto Networks beat the last quarter's EPS and revenue estimates (EPS $1.03 vs. $0.94, revenue $2.59B) and issued FY2026 EPS guidance of 3.65–3.70.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 576,449 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 127,805 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks worth $117,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Klingman & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the third quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the third quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the third quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. PTM Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 126,568 shares of company stock worth $24,159,059 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. New Street Research decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. HSBC dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $165.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.78. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $171.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.06. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 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.

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