Saudi Central Bank Acquires 26,943 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Saudi Central Bank lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 90.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,770 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 26,943 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $19,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Trilogy Capital Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the second quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $725,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,197 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 1,751 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $597,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, GSG Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $333.26 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $350.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $254.82. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $398.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $271.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 653.46, a P/E/G ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%.The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.160-4.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $370.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Forty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

Key Headlines Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Technical and earnings support: A bullish hammer chart pattern suggests potential near-term support after the recent pullback. Rising earnings estimates and the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter beat—$1.02 in adjusted EPS versus $0.98 expected, with revenue up 34.5% to $3.41 billion—also support the possibility of a rebound. Palo Alto Could Find a Support Soon
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism: DA Davidson raised its price target to $420, while Susquehanna and BTIG lifted targets to $415 and $404, respectively. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating, adding to a generally bullish Wall Street view. DA Davidson Raises Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Long-term AI opportunity: Analysts and commentary continue to highlight Palo Alto Networks’ expanding cybersecurity platform and products designed to protect enterprises from AI-related threats. The company’s strong growth profile has helped sustain investor interest despite recent volatility. Palo Alto Networks AI Cybersecurity Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector pressure is limiting momentum: Zscaler’s softer fiscal 2027 growth outlook overshadowed its earnings beat and weighed on cybersecurity peers. Palo Alto Networks has been more resilient than some competitors, but sector-wide concerns remain. Zscaler Growth Guidance Pressures Cybersecurity Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: AI acquisition: Palo Alto Networks reportedly paid about $500 million in cash and stock for Console, an AI help-desk automation startup. The deal could broaden its AI capabilities, although integration and valuation risks may limit its immediate stock impact. Palo Alto Networks Console Acquisition
• Negative Sentiment: Premium valuation and insider sale: PANW’s very high valuation leaves little room for disappointment, while Chief Accounting Officer Josh Paul’s sale of 900 shares worth approximately $336,000 adds a minor cautionary signal. However, the sale reduced his holdings by only 1.23%, limiting its significance.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.68, for a total transaction of $336,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 72,484 shares in the company, valued at $27,085,821.12. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,635 shares of company stock valued at $11,150,578. 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.