Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Rating Upgraded by Capital One Financial

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Capital One Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on PANW. FBN Securities reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $255.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.74.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $353.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $288.50 billion, a PE ratio of 290.16, a PEG ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $368.17. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $287.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.27.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total transaction of $16,270,119.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This represents a 37.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $65,796,000 after purchasing an additional 53,485 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $104,774,000 after purchasing an additional 29,230 shares during the last quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,926,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,554,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.