Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $391.32 According to Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a positive outlook: Palo Alto Networks has a “Moderate Buy” consensus from 50 analysts, with 38 buy ratings and an average 12-month price target of $391.32.
• Recent results exceeded expectations: The company reported quarterly EPS of $1.02 versus the $0.98 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $3.41 billion, up 34.5% year over year.
• Valuation and insider selling present risks: PANW trades at an exceptionally high P/E ratio after a sharp share-price gain, while insiders have sold roughly $20.7 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifty ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirty-eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $391.32.

PANW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $410.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $390.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $346.00 in a report on Monday, September 7th.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.2%

PANW stock opened at $419.91 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $432.33. The firm's 50-day moving average is $365.86 and its 200 day moving average is $289.05. The company has a market capitalization of $343.49 billion, a PE ratio of 823.37, a P/E/G ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.160-4.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cybersecurity-sector strength: Zscaler reaffirmed its first-quarter and fiscal 2027 adjusted earnings guidance, easing concerns about demand and helping lift cybersecurity stocks broadly. Palo Alto Networks Stock Reaches New Highs: What's Happening?
• Positive Sentiment: AI security remains a key growth theme: CrowdStrike’s agentic-security accelerator with Amazon Web Services and NVIDIA is highlighting the need to protect AI agents, benefiting established vendors such as Palo Alto Networks. Growing concern about AI safety may also encourage enterprises to purchase security products from trusted providers. CrowdStrike Advances on Agentic Security Accelerator
• Positive Sentiment: Strong operating momentum: Palo Alto Networks’ latest reported quarter exceeded earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue increasing 34.5% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with several firms carrying buy or overweight ratings and targets near or above recent trading levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Secular demand outlook: Market commentary characterizes cybersecurity spending as increasingly non-discretionary as AI threats multiply, potentially supporting PANW’s growth over the next several years. 3 Sectors Where Volatility Is Creating Entry Points, Not Exit Signals
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation is a significant consideration: PANW has gained roughly 125% this year and trades at an exceptionally high price-to-earnings multiple. The valuation implies continued strong execution, leaving the stock vulnerable if growth or guidance disappoints. Is Palo Alto Networks a Good Stock To Buy This Year?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling adds a modest cautionary signal: Chief Accounting Officer Josh Paul sold 400 shares for approximately $158,280, reducing his holdings by 0.51%. He still retains a substantial position, so the transaction appears limited in size relative to his remaining ownership. Insider Selling: Palo Alto Networks CAO Sells Stock

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total transaction of $7,533,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 260 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.69, for a total value of $102,099.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,677 shares in the company, valued at $1,836,611.13. This trade represents a 5.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 53,960 shares of company stock worth $20,719,959 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 125.0% during the 2nd quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 81 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides solutions designed to help organizations protect networks, endpoints, cloud environments, applications and users from cyber threats. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud-delivered security services, secure access service edge (SASE) solutions, endpoint protection and security operations tools.

The company also provides platforms and services for cloud security, threat intelligence, incident response, vulnerability management and the automation of security operations.

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