Rosenblatt Securities Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from $250.00 to $225.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 34.77% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on PANW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $245.00 price target (up from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, December 18th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.97.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.5%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $166.95 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.27. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.66, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth 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 period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.3% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,432 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 18.3% in the second quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Long-term bull case highlighted — several analyst/commentary pieces argue PANW remains a structural growth name in cybersecurity and a smart buy for long-term investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company growth deals and product momentum are cited as offsets to recent analyst cuts, reinforcing the view that near-term analyst noise may not derail multi-year growth. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q2 preview: Zacks notes PANW is entering Q2 with mid?teen revenue growth expectations but flags decelerating ARR momentum and a premium valuation — a key focus for the upcoming print. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary: PANW recently dropped more than the broader market in intraday moves, reflecting short-term volatility ahead of earnings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target cuts: JPMorgan lowered its PANW target to $225, and other firms (Rosenblatt, BTIG) trimmed targets (Rosenblatt to $225; BTIG to $200), which reduces near-term upside expectations despite some firms maintaining “buy” ratings. Read More. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Deal and listing risk: reports say PANW plans a dual listing on the Tel?Aviv Stock Exchange after closing the ~$25B CyberArk acquisition — there’s short?term investor concern about integration complexity and political/geographic exposure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/reputational risk: Reuters reports PANW opted not to publicly tie China to a recent global hacking campaign it exposed, citing fears of retaliation — this raises potential client, regulatory and reputation considerations. Read More.

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.