DA Davidson Has Bullish Forecast for PANW FY2026 Earnings

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) – Analysts at DA Davidson increased their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, November 21st. DA Davidson analyst R. Kessinger now expects that the network technology company will earn $4.27 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $3.44. DA Davidson has a “Buy” rating and a $415.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ current full-year earnings is $3.57 per share.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on PANW. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $383.36 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.92, a PEG ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $260.09 and a 1 year high of $408.53. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $364.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $339.89.

Palo Alto Networks shares are set to split on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly created shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 24.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,609,486,000 after acquiring an additional 220,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after purchasing an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after purchasing an additional 114,742 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.