Research Analysts Issue Forecasts for PANW FY2026 Earnings

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) – Equities research analysts at Capital One Financial lifted their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report issued on Tuesday, December 17th. Capital One Financial analyst C. Murphy now expects that the network technology company will post earnings per share of $2.21 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $2.21. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ current full-year earnings is $3.49 per share.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on PANW. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $207.50 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.4 %

PANW stock opened at $186.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $122.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $130.04 and a 52 week high of $207.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.58.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 72,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.25, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,231,134 shares in the company, valued at $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 571,172 shares of company stock worth $107,074,352. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.