DA Davidson Has Lowered Expectations for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at DA Davidson from $240.00 to $210.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 29.02% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.74.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $162.76 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.75. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,512,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,055,031,000 after buying an additional 505,924 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,934,935,000 after buying an additional 540,756 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $1,415,364,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,532,902,000 after acquiring an additional 36,511 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto completed its acquisition of CyberArk, adding identity-security capabilities that management says strengthen its AI-era security platform — a strategic bolt-on that supports longer-term revenue and product integration potential. Palo Alto Networks Completes Acquisition of CyberArk
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is planning a dual listing on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange following the CyberArk deal — a structural move that could broaden investor access but also draws attention to regional/regulatory considerations. Cybersecurity Stock in the Spotlight Ahead of Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts have trimmed price targets but largely maintained buy ratings — suggesting confidence in long-term fundamentals even as near‑term valuation expectations are moderated. (Examples: Rosenblatt, BTIG, DA Davidson cut PTs while keeping buy ratings.) Rosenblatt Adjusts PT to $225
• Negative Sentiment: Several firms lowered their price targets this week (BTIG from $248→$200, DA Davidson $240→$210, Rosenblatt $250→$225), which puts downward pressure on the stock despite buy ratings — investors view the cuts as reduced near‑term upside. BTIG Price Target Lowered
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reports Palo Alto chose not to explicitly attribute a recent global cyberespionage campaign to China out of concern for possible retaliation — a disclosure/PR judgment that raises geopolitical and client-risk concerns and may weigh on sentiment. Palo Alto chose not to tie China to hacking campaign
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary noted PANW falling more steeply than the broader market and cited the dual-listing/merger headlines as drivers of the weakness; trading volume is elevated, indicating active repositioning by investors. Palo Alto Networks Falls More Steeply Than Broader Market

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.