Equities Analysts Issue Forecasts for PANW FY2026 Earnings

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald has raised its FY2026 earnings per share estimate for Palo Alto Networks from $2.01 to $2.24, and maintains an "Overweight" rating with a target price of $223.00.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a Q4 EPS of $0.95, surpassing expectations of $0.89, with a revenue of $2.54 billion, highlighting a 15.8% year-over-year growth.
• Institutional investors own 79.82% of Palo Alto Networks, with notable increases in holdings from major firms such as Vanguard and Goldman Sachs.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald raised their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst J. Ruykhaver now expects that the network technology company will post earnings per share of $2.24 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $2.01. Cantor Fitzgerald currently 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $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.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PANW. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $185.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America raised Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.52.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $2.56 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $185.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,857,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,063,346. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $210.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.94 billion, a PE ratio of 115.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $190.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.33.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position 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 valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,004,000 after buying an additional 23,586 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 93.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,160,308 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $211,150,000 after purchasing an additional 560,973 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 170.5% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.58, for a total transaction of $20,722,402.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 206,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,468,674.44. The trade was a 36.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 669,948 shares of company stock worth $126,552,277. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.