JMP Securities Issues Positive Forecast for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price increased by JMP Securities from $212.00 to $250.00 in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a market outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, September 15th. Piper Sandler raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $225.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.17.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $220.29 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $201.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.92. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $221.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 137.25, a PEG ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.98.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’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, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at $543,199,564.80. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 149,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,616,344.80. This represents a 44.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% during the 1st 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. Avity Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 181,691 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $37,181,000 after purchasing an additional 49,971 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 161,840 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $33,119,000 after acquiring an additional 9,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 10,180 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.