Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 1.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks stock rose 1.2% after Bank of America upgraded its price target from $215.00 to $240.00, maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Insider sales totaled over $260 million in the past three months, with significant sales by key executives resulting in decreased ownership stakes.
• The company reported a 15.8% year-over-year revenue increase with quarterly earnings of $0.95 per share, exceeding analyst expectations.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) shares rose 1.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $215.00 to $240.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $215.09 and last traded at $214.40. Approximately 3,697,093 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 6,271,662 shares. The stock had previously closed at $211.82.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on PANW. BTIG Research raised Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Tigress Financial assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $245.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $217.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $141,512.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 32,474 shares in the company, valued at $6,564,943.84. This trade represents a 2.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.92, for a total value of $25,594,426.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 149,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock valued at $260,687,367. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $197.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 133.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.98.

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

About Palo Alto Networks

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.

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