Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Given New $175.00 Price Target at Daiwa Securities Group

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target cut by Daiwa Securities Group from $212.00 to $175.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on PANW. Truist Financial set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.62.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.7%

PANW opened at $141.67 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.43. The firm has a market cap of $115.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 186.3% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company-level fundamentals show continuing revenue growth and management set FY‑2026 EPS guidance (3.65–3.70) and Q3 guidance, supporting the view of durable subscription/AI-driven demand. Palo Alto Networks: Organic Growth Begins To Normalize, Q3 EPS Miss Driven By Share Dilution
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst raised FY2026 EPS estimates for PANW, indicating some sell‑side confidence in the company’s forward earnings trajectory. FY2026 EPS Estimate for Palo Alto Networks Raised by Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer and media coverage are keeping PANW in public view — attention can amplify moves in either direction but doesn’t change fundamentals. Jim Cramer Discusses Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons with peers (e.g., CrowdStrike) highlight differing strategies — PANW’s platform approach vs. CRWD’s acquisition growth — which frames investor preference but is not an immediate catalyst. Cybersecurity Showdown: CrowdStrike’s Acquisition Spree vs Palo Alto’s Platform Play
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst (Daiwa) cut PANW’s price target from $212 to $175 — the downgrade of expectations (even with an “outperform” rating retained) is weighing on sentiment. Daiwa Securities Adjusts PT on Palo Alto Networks to $175 from $212, Maintains Outperform Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Sector-wide selling after Anthropic released an AI tool that scans code for vulnerabilities has triggered fears that automated AI tools could displace parts of cybersecurity vendors’ workflows. This is a major near-term headwind for PANW. Cybersecurity stocks drop for a second day as new Anthropic tool fuels AI disruption fears
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary (and the Seeking Alpha angle) points to EPS pressure from share dilution — investors may be penalizing dilution risk despite GAAP/adjusted beats. Palo Alto Networks: Organic Growth Begins To Normalize, Q3 EPS Miss Driven By Share Dilution

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.