Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock: VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Grows Holdings

Posted by Brian Himes on Nov 1st, 2026

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW – Free Report) by 71.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,517 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 26,900 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $25,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,610,748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493,179 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,681,876 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,734,973,000 after acquiring an additional 205,123 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,778,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,993,802,000 after purchasing an additional 706,003 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,466,118 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,036,648,000 after purchasing an additional 273,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total transaction of $10,769,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,110,900. This represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh Paul sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.68, for a total transaction of $336,312.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 72,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,085,821.12. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $404.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $410.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 28th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.55.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $365.87 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $372.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $269.89. The firm has a market cap of $299.56 billion, a PE ratio of 717.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 0.93. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $432.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

(Free Report)

Palo Alto Networks, Inc (NASDAQ:PANW) is a global cybersecurity company that helps organizations protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, and digital infrastructure. Its offerings are designed to prevent cyberattacks, identify security risks, monitor activity, and support incident response across enterprise, government, and service-provider environments.

The company’s portfolio includes network security products such as next-generation firewalls and security operations tools; Prisma, its cloud security platform; and Cortex, a suite focused on endpoint protection, threat detection, security analytics, and automated response.