Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Jumps 2.9% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 2.9% to about $401.70, supported by generally bullish analyst sentiment. Thirty-nine analysts rate the stock Buy and 11 rate it Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $398.55.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.02 in EPS versus the $0.98 consensus and $3.41 billion in revenue, up 34.5% year over year. However, its valuation remains elevated, with a P/E ratio near 788 and a PEG ratio of 10.95.
• Insiders sold roughly $20.8 million of stock over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 79.82% of the company. Palo Alto Networks operates across network, cloud, endpoint, and cybersecurity operations through its product platforms.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) traded up 2.9% during trading on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $404.77 and last traded at $401.70. 4,766,543 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 8,088,505 shares. The stock had previously closed at $390.46.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on PANW shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Mizuho set a $415.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wedbush assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $400.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $328.59 billion, a PE ratio of 787.66, a PEG ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 0.93. The company's 50-day moving average price is $370.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $264.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the business earned $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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 250 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total value of $103,070.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,825,163.56. This trade represents a 5.35% 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, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $395.70, for a total value of $158,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 77,987 shares in the company, valued at $30,859,455.90. This trade represents a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

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