Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 1.2% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks' share price increased by 1.2% during trading, reaching a high of $216.51, with a total trading volume declining 38% from its average daily volume.
• Analysts show confidence in the company, with several upgrades to target prices, including BMO Capital Markets raising theirs from $217.00 to $225.00 and Mizuho from $210.00 to $220.00, indicating a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.95, surpassing expectations, and a revenue of $2.54 billion, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 15.8%.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 1.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $216.51 and last traded at $215.02. Approximately 3,855,098 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average daily volume of 6,249,009 shares. The stock had previously closed at $212.42.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on PANW shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $212.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.22.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.2%

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $199.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.31. The firm has a market cap of $143.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 133.97, a PEG ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $141,512.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 32,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,564,943.84. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock valued at $260,687,367. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,735 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 10.4% in the first quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 4,041 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $690,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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.

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