Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 1.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Jul 17th, 2026

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report)’s share price was up 1.3% on Friday after Capital One Financial upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. Capital One Financial now has a $421.00 price target on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $368.80 and last traded at $358.68. 7,659,341 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 17% from the average daily volume of 9,208,247 shares. The stock had previously closed at $353.99.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on PANW. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price target (up from $255.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.74.

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Insider Activity

In related news, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $3,490,500. The trade was a 37.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at $61,037,002.95. This represents a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Trilogy Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,093,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,197 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Cooper Financial Group boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,227 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $292.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 294.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $287.03 and its 200 day moving average is $211.27.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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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.