Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 5.5% – Still a Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares traded up 5.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $338.37 and last traded at $338.31. Approximately 8,394,495 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 10% from the average session volume of 9,339,520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $320.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $180.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Arete Research raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $185.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.65.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $265.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 267.14, a P/E/G ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $274.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.64.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. 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, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total value of $313,588.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,272,790.88. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the 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 directly owned 235,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $900,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.