Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target upped by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $326.00 to $384.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the network technology company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 9.43% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.87.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $350.90 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $398.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $285.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 287.62, a P/E/G ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $338.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $243.49.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total value of $313,588.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares in the company, valued at $23,272,790.88. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 37,935 shares of company stock worth $10,809,461. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $65,796,000 after purchasing an additional 53,485 shares during the period. Aviva PLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $104,774,000 after buying an additional 29,230 shares during the last quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,159,000. Finally, Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.