Wedbush Increases Earnings Estimates for Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) – Equities research analysts at Wedbush increased their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for Palo Alto Networks in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, December 17th. Wedbush analyst D. Ives now anticipates that the network technology company will earn $0.42 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.42. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ current full-year earnings is $3.49 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Palo Alto Networks’ Q1 2026 earnings at $0.48 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $0.52 EPS.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $188.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $189.36 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $191.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.31. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $130.04 and a 52-week high of $207.24. The firm has a market cap of $124.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 571,172 shares of company stock valued at $107,074,352 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GYL Financial Synergies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.2% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,516 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,243,000 after buying an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Alliance LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 188.9% in the second quarter. Capital Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 2,641 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $895,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 52.5% in the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,273 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.