Weekly Investment Analysts’ Ratings Changes for Palo Alto Networks (PANW)

Several analysts have recently updated their ratings and price targets for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW):

• 11/22/2024 – Palo Alto Networks was downgraded by analysts at HSBC Holdings plc from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating. They now have a $291.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $304.00.
• 11/22/2024 – Palo Alto Networks was downgraded by analysts at Hsbc Global Res from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Susquehanna from $420.00 to $435.00. They now have a “positive” rating on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald. They now have a $445.00 price target on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $416.00 to $450.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $425.00 to $435.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc.. They now have a $450.00 price target on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada. They now have a $450.00 price target on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $390.00 to $425.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Piper Sandler from $330.00 to $385.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Bank of America Co. from $400.00 to $430.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Northland Securities. They now have a $370.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $350.00.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at JMP Securities from $380.00 to $415.00. They now have a “market outperform” rating on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Westpark Capital.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $395.00 to $415.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at TD Cowen from $400.00 to $420.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at BTIG Research from $395.00 to $414.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from $395.00 to $432.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $385.00 to $450.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 11/21/2024 – Palo Alto Networks was upgraded by analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a $430.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $390.00.
• 11/19/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. from $400.00 to $450.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 11/18/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $387.00 to $449.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 11/18/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Evercore ISI from $395.00 to $455.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 11/18/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from $345.00 to $390.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 11/18/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $400.00 to $425.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 11/15/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $385.00 to $425.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 11/14/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $385.00 to $440.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 11/11/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $410.00 to $425.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 11/7/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its “negative” rating reaffirmed by analysts at OTR Global.
• 11/4/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its “market outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at JMP Securities. They now have a $380.00 price target on the stock.
• 11/1/2024 – Palo Alto Networks was upgraded by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald to a “strong-buy” rating.
• 10/31/2024 – Palo Alto Networks is now covered by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald. They set an “overweight” rating and a $415.00 price target on the stock.
• 10/22/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $410.00 to $450.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 10/18/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at KeyCorp from $400.00 to $435.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 10/17/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $370.00 to $410.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 10/11/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $390.00 to $421.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 10/8/2024 – Palo Alto Networks is now covered by analysts at BNP Paribas. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock.
• 10/8/2024 – Palo Alto Networks had its price target raised by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. from $376.00 to $425.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $403.03 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $373.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $344.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $260.09 and a 52 week high of $408.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.48, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are scheduled to split on the morning of Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly created shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 285,586 shares of company stock worth $107,074,352 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $67,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.