Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 49 brokerages, with an average 12-month price target of about $306.59.
• The company recently reported strong quarterly results, earning $0.85 per share versus estimates of $0.79 and generating $3.0 billion in revenue, up 31.1% year over year.
• Despite the upbeat fundamentals, insiders have been selling shares in recent months, including director John P. Key and CAO Josh D. Paul, though institutional investors still own the vast majority of the stock.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the forty-nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $306.5870.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. FBN Securities reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $325.00 price objective (up from $285.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $304.20 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $247.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 249.34, a PEG ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $306.24. The business's 50 day moving average is $241.22 and its 200 day moving average is $196.11.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total transaction of $313,588.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,272,790.88. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 106,389 shares of company stock worth $27,570,630 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Steph & Co. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during 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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