Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 1.6% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 1.6% on Tuesday, trading as high as $292.14 and last changing hands at $290.92, below the day’s average volume.
• Wall Street remains constructive on the stock: analysts such as Barclays, Scotiabank, and Evercore raised price targets, and MarketBeat shows an average rating of Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $306.59.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 versus $0.79 expected and revenue of $3 billion, up 31.1% year over year; it also issued FY 2026 guidance of 3.770-3.790 EPS.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 1.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $292.14 and last traded at $290.92. 5,420,480 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 9,431,448 shares. The stock had previously closed at $286.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $315.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $306.59.

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 $237.10 billion, a PE ratio of 238.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $230.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $193.37.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. This represents a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,490,500. The trade was a 37.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 101,389 shares of company stock worth $26,122,830 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th 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 period. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC increased 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 worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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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