Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives “Market Outperform” Rating from JMP Securities

JMP Securities restated their market outperform rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $212.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on PANW. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Twenty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.86.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.1%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $181.56 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.32. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $210.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) 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 18.55%. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. The business’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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,080. The trade was a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total transaction of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,450,734.65. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.