Arete Research Issues Positive Forecast for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target raised by equities research analysts at Arete Research from $185.00 to $433.00 in a research note issued on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Arete Research’s price target indicates a potential upside of 42.34% from the stock’s previous close.

PANW has been the subject of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $268.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $253.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $311.98.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $304.20 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $247.92 billion, a PE ratio of 249.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $306.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $241.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,598,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 106,389 shares of company stock valued at $27,570,630 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,587,100,000 after buying an additional 594,789 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,476,753 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,603,473,000 after buying an additional 3,101,267 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,934,935,000 after acquiring an additional 540,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.