Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 2.2% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 2.2% to $354.92, while trading volume was 12% below the average daily level.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: 39 analysts rate the stock a Buy and 11 rate it a Hold, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $398.55.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations with $1.02 in EPS and $3.41 billion in revenue, up 34.5% year over year; however, insiders sold roughly $20.8 million of stock during the quarter.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) traded up 2.2% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $366.23 and last traded at $354.92. 7,177,207 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average daily volume of 8,132,011 shares. The stock had previously closed at $347.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $390.00 price target (up from $371.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $410.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $400.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $290.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 695.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $369.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $307.28.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. 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. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 250 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total transaction of $103,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,825,163.56. This trade represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total value of $7,533,600.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 148.1% in the 1st quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 201 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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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