Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Given “Outperform” Rating at Oppenheimer

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Oppenheimer in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $245.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 31.93% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Northland Securities increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased 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. Twenty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.93.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW traded down $14.19 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $185.71. The stock had a trading volume of 9,193,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,151,063. The company has a market capitalization of $127.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $209.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.43. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-3.900 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 0.930-0.950 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total value of $153,979.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,449,674.85. This trade represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock worth $249,031,488. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. PFG Advisors lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 5,604 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Finally, Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $248,000. 79.82% of the stock is 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.