Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on PANW. 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 research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. New Street Research dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $158.56 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $129.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.60, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $190.35. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at $57,096,383.61. This trade represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,068 shares of company stock worth $26,600,684. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,547,000 after purchasing an additional 7,301 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $75,412,000. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in 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 worth $277,828,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $136,859,000 after buying an additional 384,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after buying an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is 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.