Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 1.4% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares fell 1.4% to $326.36 in Tuesday midday trading, with volume 45% below the average session volume.
• Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus, with an average price target of $398.55; 39 rate the stock Buy and 11 Hold.
• The company’s latest quarter beat earnings and revenue estimates, while revenue rose 34.5% year over year. Insiders sold 54,210 shares worth about $20.8 million over the past 90 days.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) fell 1.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $315.44 and last traded at $326.36. 4,434,853 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 8,024,278 shares. The stock had previously closed at $330.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PANW. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $390.00 price target (up from $371.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.4%

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 50-day moving average price of $369.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $274.33. The company has a market capitalization of $267.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 639.93, a PEG ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.96.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. The business'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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total value of $7,533,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Key sold 2,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total transaction of $940,075.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,760,300. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Solstein Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $26,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $31,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 81 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is a cybersecurity company that provides products and services to help organizations protect their networks, cloud environments, devices and applications. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud security tools, secure access services and platforms for detecting and responding to cyber threats. The company's product portfolio includes Prisma for cloud and network security and Cortex for security operations, including threat detection and response. It also provides cybersecurity consulting and incident-response services through Unit 42.

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