Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, forty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $331.4783.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $387.00 price objective (up from $320.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $255.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. FBN Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $325.63 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $368.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $299.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $216.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $265.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 266.91, a PEG ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total transaction of $313,588.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 81,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,272,790.88. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $3,490,500. This represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $1,415,364,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,476,753 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,603,473,000 after buying an additional 3,101,267 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1,665.1% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,761,909 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $442,788,000 after buying an additional 2,605,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 67.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 6,297,833 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,009,669,000 after buying an additional 2,528,299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.