Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) to “Strong-Buy”

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was upgraded by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group set a $183.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Arete Research raised Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 4.0%

PANW opened at $156.09 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.58. The firm has a market cap of $127.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 139,068 shares of company stock worth $26,600,684. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Employees Provident Fund Board acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $281,542,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $175,000. CFO Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $988,000. Clearwave Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Wick Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $294,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.