Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 3.2% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Posted by on Jul 1st, 2026

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) rose 3.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on the stock from $330.00 to $380.00. BNP Paribas Exane currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $358.10 and last traded at $352.04. 7,204,751 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 9,383,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $341.02.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on PANW. Weiss Ratings cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $340.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.15.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Palo Alto Networks

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,598,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $2,094,300.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $3,490,500. This trade represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 100,289 shares of company stock worth $26,590,990. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks News Summary

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

  • Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised PANW’s price target to $420 and reiterated an overweight rating, signaling more upside potential. Benzinga article
  • Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane lifted its target to $380 and maintained an outperform rating, adding to the bullish analyst momentum. MarketScreener article
  • Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest earnings beat expectations, with strong revenue growth and raised guidance, reinforcing confidence in PANW’s growth story. Zacks article
  • Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around PANW’s sharp year-to-date gain suggests investors are becoming more cautious about valuation, even as sentiment remains broadly positive. Zacks article

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Roxbury Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.8% during the second quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 950 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. VectorGlobal IAG Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $1,593,000. Hamilton Wealth LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 57.7% during the first quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC now owns 37,869 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,071,000 after acquiring an additional 13,863 shares during the last quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.0% in the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,050 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.6% in the first quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd now owns 76,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,235,000 after buying an additional 4,024 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $286.91 billion, a PE ratio of 288.56, a P/E/G ratio of 12.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $247.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.12.

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

About Palo Alto Networks

(Get Free Report)

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.

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