Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Earns "Buy" Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks received a "buy" rating from Needham & Company with a price objective of $230.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.72% from its current price.
• Multiple research firms have recently issued ratings for Palo Alto Networks, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.68.
• Palo Alto Networks reported earnings of $0.95 EPS for the last quarter, exceeded expectations, with revenues growing 15.8% year-over-year.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $230.00 price objective on the network technology company's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target indicates a potential upside of 20.72% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $215.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.68.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $190.52 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $210.39. The stock has a market cap of $127.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.98. The company's fifty day moving average is $188.91 and its 200-day moving average is $185.96.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm's 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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total transaction of $128,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,948,576.60. This represents a 1.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 448,648 shares of company stock worth $83,548,499. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $261,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,410,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares during the period. Diligent Investors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 3,430 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 1,715 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,663 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $23,491,000 after acquiring an additional 10,180 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $316,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.