Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Hits New 1-Year High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares hit a new 52-week high, trading at $217.94, with a total volume of over 5 million shares on the market.
• The company has received positive ratings from several analysts, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.95.
• Insider trading activity included CEO Nikesh Arora selling over 846,000 shares, significantly reducing his holdings, which raised questions about the company's future direction.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $217.94 and last traded at $217.79, with a volume of 5118540 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $211.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $212.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $215.00 target price (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, New Street Research lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.95.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $145.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.29, a P/E/G ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 0.98. The company's 50-day moving average is $191.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.81.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,143,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. St. Clair Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,233,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 4,668 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSG Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,154,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.

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