Cantor Fitzgerald Brokers Reduce Earnings Estimates for PANW

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report issued on Friday, August 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst J. Ruykhaver now forecasts that the network technology company will post earnings per share of $2.01 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $2.08. Cantor Fitzgerald has a "Overweight" rating and a $223.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks' current full-year earnings is $1.76 per share.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS.

PANW has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America raised Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler raised Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Twenty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.52.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ PANW traded up $3.1940 on Monday, hitting $184.7540. 9,497,900 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,438,869. The company has a market capitalization of $123.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.94. The business's 50 day moving average price is $191.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.32. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $210.39.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.58, for a total value of $20,722,402.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 206,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,468,674.44. The trade was a 36.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,640,080. The trade was a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,004,000 after purchasing an additional 23,586 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $567,000. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 93.2% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 767 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 46,759 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,508,000 after purchasing an additional 20,980 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.