Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 4.8% After Strong Earnings

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded up 4.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $189.00 and last traded at $184.56. 13,609,344 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 115% from the average session volume of 6,315,752 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.17.

The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 264,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. This represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. St. Clair Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the second quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 4,668 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSG Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the first quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,154,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $191.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.98 billion, a PE ratio of 114.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.