Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Cut to $400.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective cut by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $450.00 to $400.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 23.74% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on PANW. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $404.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Stephens set a $400.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Roth Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Yorkville Ives began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, October 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $11.21 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $323.26. 2,994,785 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,994,347. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $367.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.82. The company has a market cap of $264.67 billion, a PE ratio of 634.64, a P/E/G ratio of 9.36 and a beta of 0.96. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $432.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.160-4.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total value of $7,533,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.61, for a total transaction of $373,610.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,031,317.57. This represents a 15.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. 0.55% 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. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,610,748,000 after buying an additional 1,493,179 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,681,876 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,734,973,000 after acquiring an additional 205,123 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 41.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,142,895 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,235,254,000 after acquiring an additional 2,386,906 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,778,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,993,802,000 after acquiring an additional 706,003 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is a cybersecurity company that provides products and services to help organizations protect their networks, cloud environments, devices and applications. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud security tools, secure access services and platforms for detecting and responding to cyber threats. The company’s product portfolio includes Prisma for cloud and network security and Cortex for security operations, including threat detection and response. It also provides cybersecurity consulting and incident-response services through Unit 42.