Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 3.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded up 3.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on the stock from $330.00 to $380.00. BNP Paribas Exane currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $358.10 and last traded at $352.04. Approximately 7,204,751 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 9,383,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $341.02.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on PANW. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.15.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total value of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,598,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total value of $313,588.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,272,790.88. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 100,289 shares of company stock worth $26,590,990. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

More Palo Alto Networks News

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised PANW’s price target to $420 and reiterated an overweight rating, signaling more upside potential. Benzinga article
• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane lifted its target to $380 and maintained an outperform rating, adding to the bullish analyst momentum. MarketScreener article
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest earnings beat expectations, with strong revenue growth and raised guidance, reinforcing confidence in PANW’s growth story. Zacks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around PANW’s sharp year-to-date gain suggests investors are becoming more cautious about valuation, even as sentiment remains broadly positive. Zacks article

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. South Plains Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 4,823 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 4,310 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the third quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 16,938 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,449,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,227 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.2%

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $247.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $198.12. The stock has a market cap of $286.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 288.56, a P/E/G ratio of 12.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current 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.