FY2026 EPS Forecast for Palo Alto Networks Lifted by Analyst

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) – Investment analysts at DA Davidson raised their FY2026 earnings estimates for Palo Alto Networks in a research note issued on Thursday, November 21st. DA Davidson analyst R. Kessinger now anticipates that the network technology company will post earnings of $4.27 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $3.44. DA Davidson has a “Buy” rating and a $415.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ current full-year earnings is $3.56 per share.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $390.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $416.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $396.40 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $260.09 and a one year high of $408.53. The stock has a market cap of $129.07 billion, a PE ratio of 51.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $366.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $341.22.

Palo Alto Networks’s stock is scheduled to split on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at $370,926,027.50. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. This trade represents a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 412,252 shares of company stock valued at $150,638,257 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,609,486,000 after acquiring an additional 220,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.