Citizens Jmp Issues Positive Forecast for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective hoisted by investment analysts at Citizens Jmp from $320.00 to $415.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market outperform” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Citizens Jmp’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.34% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on PANW. FBN Securities reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $387.00 price objective (up from $320.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Scotiabank restated a “sector outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $337.35.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.1%

PANW opened at $379.57 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $321.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $231.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 313.94, a PEG ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $387.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total value of $5,598,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,598,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.