Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Research Coverage Started at Wedbush

Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $400.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Arete Research raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $185.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.60.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $330.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $349.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $261.88. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $398.88. The company has a market capitalization of $270.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 648.35, a PEG ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%.Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.160-4.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 632 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.67, for a total transaction of $201,399.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,727 shares in the company, valued at $2,143,693.09. This represents a 8.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,667 shares of company stock worth $3,058,443. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $65,796,000 after buying an additional 53,485 shares during the period. Aviva PLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $104,774,000 after purchasing an additional 29,230 shares during the period. B&D White Capital Company LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $2,159,000. Finally, Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after buying an additional 4,659 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: CEO Nikesh Arora said artificial intelligence is creating an estimated $1 trillion cybersecurity modernization opportunity, because legacy systems are not designed to defend against machine-speed attacks. The comments support the long-term demand outlook for Palo Alto Networks’ security platform. Palo Alto CEO discusses the AI security gap
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush initiated coverage with an “outperform” rating and a $400 price target, implying approximately 21% upside from the referenced trading level. The call reflects confidence in PANW’s platform expansion and cybersecurity growth prospects.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results showed revenue of $3.41 billion, up 34% year over year, while Next-Generation Security annual recurring revenue climbed 63% to $9.10 billion. Remaining performance obligations also increased 34% to $21.2 billion, indicating substantial contracted demand. Palo Alto Networks reports NGS ARR growth
• Neutral Sentiment: The Goldman Sachs Communacopia presentation provided additional management commentary, but no new material financial guidance or catalyst was identified in the supplied information. Palo Alto Networks conference transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that the quarter included a $282 million GAAP net loss, with acquisition costs potentially limiting near-term earnings conversion despite strong ARR growth. The stock also trades at a very elevated earnings multiple, increasing sensitivity to execution and profitability concerns. Why Palo Alto Networks shares are trading lower

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides security products and services to businesses, governments and other organizations worldwide. The company helps customers protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, applications and connected devices from cyber threats.

Its portfolio includes next-generation firewalls and network security technologies, as well as cloud-delivered security solutions such as Prisma Access and Prisma Cloud. Palo Alto Networks also offers Cortex products for endpoint protection, security operations, threat detection and response, and automation.