Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 2% – Should You Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded up 2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $288.88 and last traded at $287.78. Approximately 12,139,210 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 28% from the average daily volume of 9,501,141 shares. The stock had previously closed at $282.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $340.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Capital One Financial upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $168.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.59.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $223.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.30. The stock has a market cap of $234.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 235.89, a PEG ratio of 10.39 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora acquired 68,085 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. The trade was a 24.73% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This trade represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 101,044 shares of company stock valued at $26,022,722 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $104,774,000 after purchasing an additional 29,230 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth about $75,412,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,926,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $136,859,000 after buying an additional 384,985 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $277,828,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.