Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Upgraded at Arete Research

Arete Research upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) from a sell rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Arete Research currently has $185.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on PANW. Argus upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. New Street Research lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Northland Securities lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $163.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $133.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.14, a PEG ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $223.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $172.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.16.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. 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. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,068 shares of company stock valued at $26,600,684. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Steph & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.