Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $399.95, after closing at $388.41. The stock has risen above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with 38 Buy ratings and 12 Hold ratings, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $390.47; several firms set targets between $420 and $475.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.02 in adjusted EPS and $3.41 billion in revenue, up 34.5% year over year. However, insiders sold approximately $20.8 million of stock over the past three months.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $399.95 and last traded at $399.1930, with a volume of 952607 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $388.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. Robert W. Baird set a $420.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Capital One Financial increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $421.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $475.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, August 17th. Thirty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $390.47.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $357.81 and a 200-day moving average of $280.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $330.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 792.06, a PEG ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The company's revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.160-4.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director John Key sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total value of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,300. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total value of $10,769,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,110,900. This represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 54,260 shares of company stock valued at $20,804,474 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth about $405,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 103,822 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $35,405,000 after buying an additional 17,982 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,610,748,000 after buying an additional 1,493,179 shares during the period. Wellington Altus USA Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.8% during the second quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 993 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 90.1% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 325 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides solutions designed to help organizations protect networks, endpoints, cloud environments, applications and users from cyber threats. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud-delivered security services, secure access service edge (SASE) solutions, endpoint protection and security operations tools.

The company also provides platforms and services for cloud security, threat intelligence, incident response, vulnerability management and the automation of security operations.

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