Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 1.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shot up 1.5% during trading on Monday after JMP Securities raised their price target on the stock from $212.00 to $250.00. JMP Securities currently has a market outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $221.09 and last traded at $220.29. 4,935,426 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 6,223,120 shares. The stock had previously closed at $217.11.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. New Street Research increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Tigress Financial assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price objective on the stock. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.92, for a total value of $25,594,426.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 149,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,616,344.80. The trade was a 44.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock valued at $260,687,367. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,100,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,830 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,093,262,000 after purchasing an additional 169,055 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,177,765,000 after acquiring an additional 950,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,295,588 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,083,689,000 after acquiring an additional 377,496 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.5%

The stock has a market cap of $147.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.25, a PEG ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $201.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.92.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.