Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 1.3% – Still a Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price shot up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $186.69 and last traded at $186.27. 5,816,354 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 6,235,194 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $230.00 price target (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.3%

The company has a market capitalization of $129.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $208.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.40.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The business’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-3.900 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 0.930-0.950 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total transaction of $153,979.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,449,674.85. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,629,805.65. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock worth $249,031,488. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.