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Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $240.00

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Key Points

  • Bank of America has raised its price target for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) from $215.00 to $240.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.14% based on the current stock price.
  • Palo Alto Networks recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.95, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.89, alongside a 15.8% increase in revenue from the previous year.
  • The company's stock has seen recent insider trading, with CEO Nikesh Arora selling 846,408 shares, resulting in a significant reduction of his ownership by 75.48%.
  • Interested in Palo Alto Networks? Here are five stocks we like better.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by analysts at Bank of America from $215.00 to $240.00 in a research note issued on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the network technology company's stock. Bank of America's price objective suggests a potential upside of 13.14% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on PANW. Scotiabank upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. KeyCorp downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $217.22.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on PANW

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $212.13 on Monday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $197.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.00. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $217.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.98, a PEG ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $141,512.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 32,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,564,943.84. This trade represents a 2.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock valued at $260,687,367. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Palo Alto Networks

(Get Free Report)

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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Analyst Recommendations for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)

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.

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