Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 1.4% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 1.4% to $346.95 in Monday trading, although volume was 44% below the average. The company has a market capitalization of approximately $283.8 billion.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $395.25; several firms recently raised their targets, including RBC to $475.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations with adjusted EPS of $1.02 and revenue of $3.41 billion, up 34.5% year over year. Meanwhile, insiders sold approximately $20.8 million of stock during the past quarter.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) shares were up 1.4% during trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $356.00 and last traded at $346.95. 4,593,748 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 8,170,779 shares. The stock had previously closed at $342.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated 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. Argus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $434.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $395.25.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.4%

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $372.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $302.05. The stock has a market cap of $283.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 680.31, a P/E/G ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.93. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company 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, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John Key sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total value of $10,769,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares in the company, valued at $46,110,900. This trade represents a 18.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position 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 during the period. Finally, EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. 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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