PANW FY2026 EPS Estimate Increased by Capital One Financial

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) – Research analysts at Capital One Financial boosted their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report released on Tuesday, December 17th. Capital One Financial analyst C. Murphy now expects that the network technology company will earn $2.21 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $2.21. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ current full-year earnings is $3.49 per share.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $189.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $124.26 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.31. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $130.04 and a 12-month high of $207.24.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 71,274 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $24,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684 shares during the last quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $283,000. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1,744.9% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,450 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,263 shares in the last quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the second quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 5,837 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,979,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 790.5% in the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 187 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 571,172 shares of company stock valued at $107,074,352 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.