Guggenheim Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by research analysts at Guggenheim in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Thirty-three 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.17.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 5.7%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $9.27 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $154.23. 10,671,947 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,320,713. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.50 billion, a PE ratio of 97.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued 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 company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’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. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. 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 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the third quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% in the third quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the third quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

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.