Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 2.3% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Citizens Jmp raised their price target on the stock from $320.00 to $415.00. Citizens Jmp currently has a market outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $398.88 and last traded at $396.00. 4,586,447 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 8,808,755 shares. The stock had previously closed at $387.01.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Northland Securities raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Argus set a $425.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $180.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $114.00 to $207.00 in a report on Thursday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $337.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 owned 145,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% during the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $900,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.3%

The stock has a market cap of $322.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 324.59, a P/E/G ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 0.91. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $323.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $232.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released 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. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business 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. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.