Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Lowered to $210.00 at DA Davidson

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective cut by DA Davidson from $240.00 to $210.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a buy rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PANW. Mizuho set a $220.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.74.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $164.62. 1,634,535 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,432,605. The stock has a market cap of $114.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.74. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $1,415,364,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $12,512,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $340,883,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $502,263,000 after buying an additional 1,282,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.9% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,104,939 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $430,755,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041,145 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto completed the acquisition of CyberArk, adding unified human/machine/agent identity security — a strategic bolt-on for the AI era that supports cross-sell and long-term revenue growth. Palo Alto Networks Completes Acquisition of CyberArk to Secure the AI Era
• Neutral Sentiment: Yahoo piece notes the company is balancing recent analyst cuts with continued growth deals — suggests mixed sentiment but execution-focused narrative that could limit downside if growth remains intact. Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW) Balances Analyst Cuts With Growth Deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Preview coverage (Zacks) highlights the upcoming Q2 earnings as a key catalyst — analysts are focused on recurring subscription metrics and ARR trends; results could swing sentiment either way. Ahead of Palo Alto (PANW) Q2 Earnings: Get Ready With Wall Street Estimates for Key Metrics
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary notes cybersecurity demand remains structurally strong and sector ETFs are oversold — a macro tailwind that supports longer-term valuation recovery if execution holds. (Sector analysis / thematic ETF coverage)
• Negative Sentiment: Rosenblatt lowered its price target from $250 to $225 while keeping a Buy rating — the cut (despite still implying upside) contributes to weaker near-term sentiment. Rosenblatt Securities Adjusts Palo Alto Networks PT to $225 from $250; Maintains Buy Rating
• Negative Sentiment: BTIG cut its price target to $200 from $248 (still a Buy) — another downward revision that trims near-term upside expectations and can pressure sentiment/flows. Benzinga TickerReport
• Negative Sentiment: DA Davidson trimmed its target to $210 from $240 (Buy maintained) — the string of PT cuts is a proximate cause of today’s weaker share action. DA Davidson Adjusts Palo Alto Networks PT to $210 from $240; Maintains Buy Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Sector headwinds from a recent SaaS sell-off (linked to Anthropic/AI plugin news) are pressuring software/cyber multiples broadly — an external factor that can amplify analyst-driven weakness in PANW. Surviving the SaaS-pocalypse: JPMorgan’s 3 Top Cyber Stocks Ready to Surge
• Negative Sentiment: A Zacks preview flagged that Palo Alto may lack the setup for an easy earnings beat next week — disappointing results or conservative guidance would likely push the stock lower. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Earnings Expected to Grow: What to Know Ahead of Next Week’s Release

About Palo Alto Networks

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.