Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Cross Below Fifty Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares fell below their 50-day moving average of $372.15, trading as low as $359.76 before last changing hands at $365.87.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with 39 Buy ratings and 11 Holds; the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $398.55.
• The company exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.02 in EPS and $3.41 billion in revenue, up 34.5% year over year. Insiders have sold 54,210 shares worth approximately $20.8 million over the past 90 days.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) crossed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $372.15 and traded as low as $359.76. Palo Alto Networks shares last traded at $365.87, with a volume of 7,565,498 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Capital One Financial lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $421.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $372.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $269.89. The company has a market capitalization of $299.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 717.41, a PEG ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total transaction of $10,769,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,110,900. The trade was a 18.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh Paul sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.68, for a total transaction of $336,312.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 72,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,085,821.12. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $775,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Compass Financial Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC now owns 10,093 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $4,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098 shares during the last quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 3,747 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 216,983 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $84,278,000 after purchasing an additional 21,025 shares during the period. Finally, Third View Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Third View Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,787 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc NASDAQ: PANW is a global cybersecurity company that helps organizations protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, and digital infrastructure. Its offerings are designed to prevent cyberattacks, identify security risks, monitor activity, and support incident response across enterprise, government, and service-provider environments.

The company's portfolio includes network security products such as next-generation firewalls and security operations tools; Prisma, its cloud security platform; and Cortex, a suite focused on endpoint protection, threat detection, security analytics, and automated response.

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