Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the forty-three analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $217.2225.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Tigress Financial started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Saturday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.92, for a total value of $25,594,426.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 149,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,616,344.80. This trade represents a 44.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $217.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $200.79 and a 200-day moving average of $192.59. The company has a market cap of $145.22 billion, a PE ratio of 135.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $218.23.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. 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 expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.