Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Cuts Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $220.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price decreased by equities researchers at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $240.00 to $220.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 45.68% from the company’s previous close.

PANW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. HSBC cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Barclays set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Mizuho set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Thirty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.66.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 7.6%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $12.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $151.01. 5,479,791 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,148,942. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $181.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.21. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,587,100,000 after purchasing an additional 594,789 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,568,964,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065,776 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,934,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,756 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat consensus: Palo Alto reported $1.03 EPS and ~$2.59B revenue (both above estimates); Next?Generation Security ARR grew ~33% YoY — evidence of solid demand and platform traction. PR Newswire — Q2 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management lifted full?year revenue range to about $11.28–11.31B and provided FY?2026 EPS guidance of $3.65–3.70 (above Street consensus), signaling longer?term top?line momentum. WSJ — Revenue Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Several sell?side firms reiterated Buy/Outperform ratings with high price targets (e.g., Wedbush and Rosenblatt at $225; BTIG at $200), which supports a bullish medium?term narrative among analysts. Benzinga — Analyst Notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Some brokerages trimmed price targets (Mizuho, BMO, Needham lowered targets from ~$230 to ~$200–205) but mostly kept Buy/Outperform ratings — mixed signal: lower valuations but continued analyst conviction. The Fly — Price Target Changes
• Negative Sentiment: Management flagged higher integration and deal costs tied to recent acquisitions (including the large CyberArk deal), and trimmed annual profit expectations — this comment triggered an immediate sell?off in after?hours/premarket trading. Reuters — Deal Costs / Profit Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Shorter?term guidance concerns: some headlines noted Q3 profit guidance disappointed expectations, prompting further downside pressure despite the quarter’s beats. CNBC — Q3 Guidance Reaction

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.