Rosenblatt Securities Reiterates Buy Rating for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Rosenblatt Securities in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $225.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 37.61% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target (down previously from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. Thirty 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.74.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $163.50 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $113.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $181.06 and its 200-day moving average is $192.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. 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. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,547,000 after buying an additional 7,301 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,389,000 after acquiring an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1,248.9% in the third quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 10,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after acquiring an additional 10,091 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,234,551 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $457,279,000 after purchasing an additional 163,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.2% in the 2nd quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting 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.