Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 1.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 1.3% after Capital One Financial upgraded the stock from equal weight to overweight and set a $421 price target.
• The company has seen broad analyst support, with multiple firms recently raising targets or reiterating buy ratings; MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $327.74.
• Palo Alto Networks also reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 beating estimates and revenue of $3 billion, up 31.1% year over year.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) shares traded up 1.3% on Friday after Capital One Financial upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. Capital One Financial now has a $421.00 price target on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $368.80 and last traded at $358.68. Approximately 7,659,341 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average daily volume of 9,208,247 shares. The stock had previously closed at $353.99.

PANW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group set a $300.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $330.00 target price (up from $255.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $327.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $27,477,180. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total transaction of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,898 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,045,721.30. This represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the fourth 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 during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $292.32 billion, a PE ratio of 294.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $287.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $211.27.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 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.

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