JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $200.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on PANW. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Thirty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.51.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.5%

PANW opened at $148.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $121.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.15, a P/E/G ratio of 5.02 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. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.65.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto announced the planned acquisition of Koi, a startup focused on agentic endpoint security — a strategic move to plug AI-related security gaps and expand its AI/security platform footprint. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) to Acquire Koi
• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto filed an offer relating to CyberArk’s convertible notes tied to its CyberArk acquisition, signaling active balance-sheet management as it closes recent M&A. This helps reassure investors that integration and financing steps are being executed. Palo Alto Networks Announces Offer to Purchase Relating to CyberArk Software Ltd.’s Notes
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarter showed revenue and EPS roughly in line-to-slightly-better-than expectations and management raised revenue guidance at the low end, supporting the case for durable topline growth driven by platform and subscription momentum. (Company releases and analyst coverage)
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms reiterated Outperform/Buy ratings (e.g., Citizens JMP, Wedbush, RBC, Rosenblatt) — indicating pockets of institutional confidence even as some analysts trimmed estimates.
• Negative Sentiment: A cluster of analyst downgrades and price-target cuts hit PANW, driving headline selling and raising near-term skepticism about margin recovery amid integration costs. See coverage of the downgrade-driven selloff. Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 6.8% on Analyst Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Susquehanna cut its price target (and multiple banks including Goldman, HSBC, Mizuho, BMO and others issued more pessimistic forecasts or lowered targets), amplifying pressure on the stock’s near-term outlook. Susquehanna Lowers Palo Alto Networks Price Target to $200.00
• Negative Sentiment: HSBC notably cut its target to $114, highlighting the range of analyst views and contributing to sentiment-driven selling. HSBC Adjusts Price Target on Palo Alto Networks to $114
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put-option buying and elevated volume/gap-down trading indicate traders are positioned for further near-term weakness; this increases volatility and can exacerbate downward moves until clarity on integration costs and margin recovery arrives.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.