Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 2.4% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 2.4% to $357.87 in Friday trading, with volume down 41% from its average. The company’s market capitalization is approximately $291.8 billion.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $362.67; several firms recently set targets as high as $415.
• The company reported quarterly revenue of $3 billion, up 31.1% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $0.85 per share, beating estimates. However, insiders have sold roughly $10.8 million of stock over the past three months.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 2.4% on Friday . The company traded as high as $360.49 and last traded at $357.87. Approximately 5,104,143 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 8,657,283 shares. The stock had previously closed at $349.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. New Street Research set a $415.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho set a $415.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $114.00 to $207.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $362.67.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.4%

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $335.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $240.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $291.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 293.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. The business's quarterly 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. This trade represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 37,935 shares of company stock valued at $10,809,461. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $25,833,462,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $1,415,364,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $1,968,304,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $1,569,755,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,481,236,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source