Research Analysts Issue Forecasts for PANW FY2026 Earnings

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) - Stock analysts at DA Davidson raised their FY2026 EPS estimates for Palo Alto Networks in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson analyst R. Kessinger now expects that the network technology company will post earnings of $2.11 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $2.10. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks' current full-year earnings is $1.76 per share.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim reissued a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.7%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $186.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $123.24 billion, a PE ratio of 104.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $178.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.33. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $10,712,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,637 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after buying an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,533,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total value of $22,858,894.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 293,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,458,002.70. This trade represents a 29.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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