Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 1.5% on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares rose by 1.5% after Scotiabank upgraded their price target from $225 to $228, maintaining a sector outperform rating.
• The stock's trading volume decreased by 30% compared to its average, with approximately 4.4 million shares traded, while it currently sits at a market cap of $124.22 billion.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Palo Alto Networks, with a projected average price target of $218.86 among those reviewing the stock.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $205.00 to $210.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $186.61 and last traded at $184.35. Approximately 4,464,665 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 6,404,382 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.56.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on PANW. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Twenty-eight equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $122,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 41,433 shares in the company, valued at $8,452,332. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $810,047,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $675,865,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $633,068,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,120,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,625 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $190.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.31. The stock has a market cap of $122.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.