DA Davidson Analysts Increase Earnings Estimates for PANW

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) – Analysts at DA Davidson raised their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for Palo Alto Networks in a research report issued on Tuesday, August 19th. DA Davidson analyst R. Kessinger now expects that the network technology company will earn $2.22 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $2.03. DA Davidson has a “Buy” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ current full-year earnings is $1.76 per share.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $185.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.52.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $183.32 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $122.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $190.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.31. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue 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.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,450,734.65. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 3,430 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,663 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $23,491,000 after purchasing an additional 10,180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.