Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $200.00 to $230.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the network technology company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 12.06% from the stock’s previous close.

PANW has been the topic of several other research reports. 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Twenty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.52.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.2%

PANW opened at $205.25 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $209.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.06. The stock has a market cap of $140.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.88, a PEG ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 356,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,675,777.46. The trade was a 25.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,160,428. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% during the first quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 205,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $41,957,000 after purchasing an additional 41,392 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 39,893 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,164,000 after purchasing an additional 3,351 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.