Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 1.2% – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares traded up 1.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $165.36 and last traded at $165.05. 7,096,272 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 11,544,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on PANW. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $134.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.19, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $171.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.15.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 139,068 shares of company stock worth $26,600,684 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,547,000 after buying an additional 7,301 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $136,859,000 after acquiring an additional 384,985 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $277,828,000 after acquiring an additional 8,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.