Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by Wedbush in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $225.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock. Wedbush’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 37.61% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $200.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.71.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $163.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $113.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $223.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $181.06 and its 200 day moving average is $192.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $5,272,000. Claro Advisors Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors Inc. now owns 10,173 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,874,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Asset One Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $299,000. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 121,251 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $22,417,000 after buying an additional 7,730 shares during the period. Finally, Align Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $19,136,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 operational beat — Palo Alto reported $1.03 EPS and roughly $2.59B revenue, topping consensus and showing ~15% YoY revenue growth and 33% growth in Next‑Generation Security ARR, supporting the company’s platform momentum. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Raised revenue outlook — Management lifted full‑year revenue guidance to roughly $11.28B–$11.31B (from ~$10.5B prior), which signals stronger top‑line expectations even as margins are pressured. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Product & research cadence — Palo Alto announced new offerings (MSIAM 2.0) and released its Unit 42 report on AI‑driven threats, underscoring product innovation and thought leadership in AI security but with uncertain near‑term financial impact. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst tone mixed but constructive — Some sell‑side checks (BTIG, others) stay positive on demand and firewall momentum though price targets have been trimmed amid sector valuation pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Margin/earnings pressure from M&A — Reuters reports Palo Alto trimmed an annual profit forecast citing deal‑related costs to bolster AI capabilities; that comment triggered an after‑hours selloff as investors fretted about near‑term margin dilution. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance reaction — Media coverage noted the fiscal Q3 profit guidance and commentary disappointed some investors despite beats, contributing to the share decline in extended trading. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Acquisition noise — The announcement of an intent to acquire Koi (agentic endpoint focus) drew investor concern about integration and near‑term costs; coverage linked the deal to the volatility. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Price target adjustments — Some analysts trimmed targets (e.g., Mizuho lowered to $205) reflecting valuation risks and near‑term uncertainty even as ratings remain constructive. Article Title

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.