Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 2.2% – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares were up 2.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $145.36 and last traded at $144.84. Approximately 11,108,893 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 7% from the average daily volume of 11,977,537 shares. The stock had previously closed at $141.67.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sharp decline in short interest — Short interest fell ~50.8% to 22,768,366 shares as of Feb. 13 (about 2.8% of shares short) and a short-interest ratio of ~1.3 days based on average volume, reducing a potential short squeeze overhang and removing downward pressure from heavy short positions.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/consensus view remains constructive — PANW still carries an overall “Moderate Buy” analyst consensus, supporting medium-term demand from institutional buyers. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Media pieces highlight PANW’s AI/security strategy as a potential turnaround thesis — Commentary argues PANW’s investments in AI-driven security could improve long-term growth despite recent pullbacks; this is supportive but speculative. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive positioning under review — Coverage comparing CrowdStrike’s acquisition push with Palo Alto’s platform approach underscores that PANW remains a core cybersecurity play but faces execution/strategy comparisons that may influence investor preference. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target cut — Daiwa lowered its PT from $212 to $175 (still an “outperform”), signaling more conservative near-term expectations and reducing upside in some investor models. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Questions on organic growth and EPS dilution — Analysis points to normalizing organic growth and an EPS miss on a per-share basis driven by share dilution, which can temper near-term margin/growth expectations. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: High-profile commentary—Jim Cramer discussed PANW after earnings; such coverage can boost retail interest but is not a fundamental catalyst on its own. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective 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. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.62.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.2%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.43. The firm has a market cap of $118.19 billion, a PE ratio of 80.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This trade represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,587,100,000 after purchasing an additional 594,789 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% during the fourth 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 Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,934,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is 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.