Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Lowered to $200.00 at Needham & Company LLC

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price decreased by Needham & Company LLC from $230.00 to $200.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 22.32% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. HSBC cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 20th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.74.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $163.50 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $181.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.21. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The stock has a market cap of $113.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.48, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Klingman & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $558,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the third quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. PTM Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the third quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% in the third quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Palo Alto Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 operational beat — Palo Alto reported $1.03 EPS and roughly $2.59B revenue, topping consensus and showing ~15% YoY revenue growth and 33% growth in Next‑Generation Security ARR, supporting the company’s platform momentum. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Raised revenue outlook — Management lifted full‑year revenue guidance to roughly $11.28B–$11.31B (from ~$10.5B prior), which signals stronger top‑line expectations even as margins are pressured. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Product & research cadence — Palo Alto announced new offerings (MSIAM 2.0) and released its Unit 42 report on AI‑driven threats, underscoring product innovation and thought leadership in AI security but with uncertain near‑term financial impact. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst tone mixed but constructive — Some sell‑side checks (BTIG, others) stay positive on demand and firewall momentum though price targets have been trimmed amid sector valuation pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Margin/earnings pressure from M&A — Reuters reports Palo Alto trimmed an annual profit forecast citing deal‑related costs to bolster AI capabilities; that comment triggered an after‑hours selloff as investors fretted about near‑term margin dilution. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance reaction — Media coverage noted the fiscal Q3 profit guidance and commentary disappointed some investors despite beats, contributing to the share decline in extended trading. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Acquisition noise — The announcement of an intent to acquire Koi (agentic endpoint focus) drew investor concern about integration and near‑term costs; coverage linked the deal to the volatility. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Price target adjustments — Some analysts trimmed targets (e.g., Mizuho lowered to $205) reflecting valuation risks and near‑term uncertainty even as ratings remain constructive. Article Title

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.