Daiwa Securities Group Cuts Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $175.00

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

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Mizuho set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.62.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $149.40 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $175.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $190.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.54, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $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. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value 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. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,096,383.61. This trade represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Steph & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.