Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 1.2% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 1.2% to $363.86 in Friday trading, while volume fell 49% below the average session level.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $333.76; several firms recently raised their targets, including Morgan Stanley to $387.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.85 in EPS and $3 billion in revenue, up 31.1% year over year. Institutional investors own nearly 80% of the stock, while insiders sold more than $27 million in shares during the last quarter.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 1.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $370.50 and last traded at $363.86. Approximately 4,573,810 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 8,888,270 shares. The stock had previously closed at $359.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $387.00 target price (up from $320.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $345.00 price target (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. FBN Securities restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $370.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $333.76.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $316.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 298.25, a PEG ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. The business'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, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total transaction of $313,588.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 81,636 shares in the company, valued at $23,272,790.88. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $25,833,462,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,587,100,000 after purchasing an additional 594,789 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,101,267 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,934,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,756 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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