Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Raised to Strong-Buy at Capital One Financial

Key Points

• Capital One Financial upgraded Palo Alto Networks from hold to strong-buy, adding to a broadly positive Wall Street outlook. MarketBeat says PANW now has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a target price of $327.74.
• Palo Alto Networks beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.85 EPS versus estimates of $0.79 and $3.0 billion in revenue versus $2.94 billion. Revenue rose 31.1% year over year, and the company guided FY 2026 EPS to 3.770-3.790.
• Despite the upgrade, the stock was trading around $353.99, near its 52-week high of $368.17. The article also notes recent insider selling, including transactions by Director Aparna Bawa and CAO Josh D. Paul.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Capital One Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on PANW. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $345.00 price target (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $340.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $415.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $327.74.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $353.99 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $287.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.27. 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 has a market capitalization of $288.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 290.16, a PEG ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $368.17.

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total value of $101,134.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,244,839.38. This represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,477,180. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Steph & Co. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $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 approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.

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