Scotiabank Cuts Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $180.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price decreased by Scotiabank from $228.00 to $180.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

PANW has been the subject of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Thirty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.51.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $148.70 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $178.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.49. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The company has a market capitalization of $121.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at $62,878,351.95. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,587,100,000 after purchasing an additional 594,789 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,568,964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065,776 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,934,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,756 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto announced the planned acquisition of Koi, a startup focused on agentic endpoint security — a strategic move to plug AI-related security gaps and expand its AI/security platform footprint. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) to Acquire Koi
• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto filed an offer relating to CyberArk’s convertible notes tied to its CyberArk acquisition, signaling active balance-sheet management as it closes recent M&A. This helps reassure investors that integration and financing steps are being executed. Palo Alto Networks Announces Offer to Purchase Relating to CyberArk Software Ltd.’s Notes
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarter showed revenue and EPS roughly in line-to-slightly-better-than expectations and management raised revenue guidance at the low end, supporting the case for durable topline growth driven by platform and subscription momentum. (Company releases and analyst coverage)
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms reiterated Outperform/Buy ratings (e.g., Citizens JMP, Wedbush, RBC, Rosenblatt) — indicating pockets of institutional confidence even as some analysts trimmed estimates.
• Negative Sentiment: A cluster of analyst downgrades and price-target cuts hit PANW, driving headline selling and raising near-term skepticism about margin recovery amid integration costs. See coverage of the downgrade-driven selloff. Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 6.8% on Analyst Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Susquehanna cut its price target (and multiple banks including Goldman, HSBC, Mizuho, BMO and others issued more pessimistic forecasts or lowered targets), amplifying pressure on the stock’s near-term outlook. Susquehanna Lowers Palo Alto Networks Price Target to $200.00
• Negative Sentiment: HSBC notably cut its target to $114, highlighting the range of analyst views and contributing to sentiment-driven selling. HSBC Adjusts Price Target on Palo Alto Networks to $114
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put-option buying and elevated volume/gap-down trading indicate traders are positioned for further near-term weakness; this increases volatility and can exacerbate downward moves until clarity on integration costs and margin recovery arrives.

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.