Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target lowered by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $200.00 to $185.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 23.07% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on PANW. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Thirty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.66.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 8.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $13.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $150.32. 5,479,791 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,148,942. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $181.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $192.21. The stock has a market cap of $104.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, analysts expect 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 120,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the firm’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 owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

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

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat consensus: Palo Alto reported $1.03 EPS and ~$2.59B revenue (both above estimates); Next‑Generation Security ARR grew ~33% YoY — evidence of solid demand and platform traction. PR Newswire — Q2 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management lifted full‑year revenue range to about $11.28–11.31B and provided FY‑2026 EPS guidance of $3.65–3.70 (above Street consensus), signaling longer‑term top‑line momentum. WSJ — Revenue Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Several sell‑side firms reiterated Buy/Outperform ratings with high price targets (e.g., Wedbush and Rosenblatt at $225; BTIG at $200), which supports a bullish medium‑term narrative among analysts. Benzinga — Analyst Notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Some brokerages trimmed price targets (Mizuho, BMO, Needham lowered targets from ~$230 to ~$200–205) but mostly kept Buy/Outperform ratings — mixed signal: lower valuations but continued analyst conviction. The Fly — Price Target Changes
• Negative Sentiment: Management flagged higher integration and deal costs tied to recent acquisitions (including the large CyberArk deal), and trimmed annual profit expectations — this comment triggered an immediate sell‑off in after‑hours/premarket trading. Reuters — Deal Costs / Profit Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Shorter‑term guidance concerns: some headlines noted Q3 profit guidance disappointed expectations, prompting further downside pressure despite the quarter’s beats. CNBC — Q3 Guidance Reaction

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.