Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $230.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price indicates a potential upside of 25.75% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. New Street Research increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.2%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $182.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.31. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-3.900 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 0.930-0.950 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total value of $23,081,119.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,008,788.94. This trade represents a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock valued at $249,031,488. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% in the first quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.3% in the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 205,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $41,957,000 after purchasing an additional 41,392 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 39,893 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,164,000 after buying an additional 3,351 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.