Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Jumps 2% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 2% to $347.25 in midday trading, though volume was 37% below the average daily level.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: 39 analysts rate the stock a Buy and 11 a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus 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 have sold roughly $20.8 million in shares over the past 90 days.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) traded up 2% on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $354.42 and last traded at $347.25. 5,136,799 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 8,128,534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $340.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a 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 company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $284.05 billion, a PE ratio of 680.90, a PEG ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $371.03 and a 200-day moving average of $304.63. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 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 business had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The business's quarterly 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. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $46,110,900. This represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm'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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,610,748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493,179 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,681,876 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $7,734,973,000 after purchasing an additional 205,123 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,778,963 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,993,802,000 after acquiring an additional 706,003 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,466,118 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,036,648,000 after purchasing an additional 273,103 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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