Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Sanford C. Bernstein Analyst Says

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price increased by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from $207.00 to $210.00 in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.82% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $182.90 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $125.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.95. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $208.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.31.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-3.900 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 0.930-0.950 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at $19,629,805.65. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock worth $249,031,488. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.