Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 1.3% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks' stock price increased by 1.3% during mid-day trading, reaching a high of $187.11 and closing at $185.70, with a significant decline in trading volume compared to the average.
• The company has received mixed analyst ratings, with DA Davidson maintaining a buy rating and a $215 price target, while Northland Securities lowered their target to $177 with a market perform rating.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong quarterly earnings, with $0.95 earnings per share surpassing estimates and a revenue increase of 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 1.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $187.11 and last traded at $185.70. 1,953,976 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 6,448,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $215.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Bank of America raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $232.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.52.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $123.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's fifty day moving average is $190.61 and its 200-day moving average is $186.32.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm's revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm 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. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.58, for a total transaction of $20,722,402.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 206,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,468,674.44. The trade was a 36.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 669,948 shares of company stock valued at $126,552,277. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.