Sanford C. Bernstein Issues Positive Forecast for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price hoisted by Sanford C. Bernstein from $209.00 to $253.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group set a $300.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price (up from $255.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 target price (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.22.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 5.6%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $280.43 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $302.95. The stock has a market cap of $228.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 229.86, a P/E/G ratio of 10.71 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $200.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.46.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.05. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The firm’s 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at $50,434,276.78. The trade was a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total transaction of $272,459.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,466,400. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 94,760 shares of company stock valued at $21,660,063. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $1,415,364,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,476,753 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,603,473,000 after acquiring an additional 3,101,267 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,665.1% during the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,761,909 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $442,788,000 after acquiring an additional 2,605,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 67.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 6,297,833 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,009,669,000 after acquiring an additional 2,528,299 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: Palo Alto Networks reported fiscal Q3 earnings and revenue above expectations, with EPS of $0.85 versus $0.79-$0.81 estimated and revenue of $3.0 billion versus $2.94 billion expected, while sales rose 31.1% year over year. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised FY2026 and Q4 guidance well above Wall Street estimates, signaling stronger demand and improving profitability outlooks. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Nikesh Arora said AI-related security concerns are driving a surge in customer engagement and meeting requests, reinforcing the long-term growth narrative for PANW. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup, Wedbush, BNP Paribas Exane, Stifel, Berenberg, Truist, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, RBC, Oppenheimer, and others raised price targets, with several also reiterating buy or outperform ratings, adding momentum to the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: One insider filing showed CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares, which is minor versus the company’s overall market value but may slightly weigh on sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, some coverage noted the stock slipped intraday as investors focused on acquisition-driven growth and broader market pressure rather than the strong fundamentals. 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.