Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy”: Of 48 brokerages covering Palo Alto Networks, 40 rate it a buy, six hold, one sell and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $342.61.
• Recent results exceeded expectations: Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly EPS of $0.85 versus the $0.79 consensus and revenue of $3.0 billion versus the $2.94 billion estimate, with revenue rising 31.1% year over year.
• Shares remain highly valued and insider selling has increased: PANW opened at $375.76 with a price-to-earnings ratio of 308, while insiders sold 101,239 shares worth approximately $27.2 million over the past three months. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the stock.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the forty-eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, forty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $342.6087.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $415.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $300.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $375.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $306.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 308.00, a PEG ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $398.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $330.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total transaction of $101,134.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,244,839.38. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,898 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,045,721.30. This trade represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ: PANW is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company's product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.

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