Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 1.2% Higher – Still a Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price rose 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $165.36 and last traded at $165.05. Approximately 7,096,272 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 11,544,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Stephens boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Truist Financial set a $200.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a market cap of $134.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $190.16.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 139,068 shares of company stock worth $26,600,684 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,587,100,000 after purchasing an additional 594,789 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,568,964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065,776 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,934,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.