Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 3.2% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 3.2% to $419.91, significantly above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, but the stock carries a very high P/E ratio of 823.37.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with 38 Buy ratings and 12 Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating; however, the average price target of $391.32 is below the current share price.
• The company exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue up 34.5% year over year, while insiders have sold nearly $20.7 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) shot up 3.2% on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $432.33 and last traded at $419.91. 5,438,058 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 8,312,048 shares. The stock had previously closed at $406.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Palo Alto Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $253.00 to $351.00 in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $475.00 price target (up from $420.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, August 17th. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $201.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Stephens set a $400.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $391.32.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.2%

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 stock's 50 day moving average is $363.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.28. The company has a market capitalization of $343.49 billion, a PE ratio of 823.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 0.93.

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 company had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total transaction of $7,533,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John Key sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total transaction of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,760,300. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,960 shares of company stock worth $20,719,959. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 125.0% in the second quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 81 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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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