Capital One Financial Weighs in on PANW FY2026 Earnings

Key Points

• Capital One Financial has raised its FY2026 earnings per share estimate for Palo Alto Networks from $2.05 to $2.16, exceeding the current consensus estimate of $1.76.
• Palo Alto Networks shares experienced a price fluctuation, opening at $172.88 with a 52-week range of $142.01 to $210.39, and a market capitalization of $115.28 billion.
• Investment sentiment is mixed with two analysts rating the stock as a sell, fourteen as hold, and twenty-six giving it a buy rating, contributing to an average target price of $209.61.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Capital One Financial lifted their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report issued on Wednesday, July 30th. Capital One Financial analyst C. Murphy now anticipates that the network technology company will post earnings per share of $2.16 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $2.05. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks' current full-year earnings is $1.76 per share.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Northland Securities dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.61.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $172.88 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $196.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.36. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $210.39. The company has a market cap of $115.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.79, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $810,047,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $633,068,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,120,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,625 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total transaction of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 448,474 shares of company stock worth $88,420,934. 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.

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