Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $205.00 to $210.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.55% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.52.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $183.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $122.24 billion, a PE ratio of 114.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $190.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $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 announced 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 net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 264,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. The trade was a 31.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted 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 valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. 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.