Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 1.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) were up 1.6% during trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $160.30 and last traded at $158.56. Approximately 9,524,973 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 11,736,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.09.

PANW has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Arete Research raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.19.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 139,068 shares of company stock valued at $26,600,684. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% during the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $129.38 billion, a PE ratio of 87.60, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day moving average is $172.60 and its 200 day moving average is $190.35.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 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.