Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 1% Higher - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 1% to $338.49, though trading volume was 49% below the average session volume.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with 39 Buy ratings and 11 Holds; the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $386.32.
• The company beat quarterly expectations with $1.02 in EPS and $3.41 billion in revenue, up 34.5% year over year, but its valuation remains elevated with a P/E ratio above 663.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) shares rose 1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $344.79 and last traded at $338.49. 4,372,096 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 8,512,385 shares. The stock had previously closed at $335.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated 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. Benchmark boosted 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 report on Monday, August 24th. Mizuho set a $415.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $430.00 price objective (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $386.32.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.87 billion, a PE ratio of 663.72, a P/E/G ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 0.91. The business's 50 day moving average price is $349.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $259.23.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%.The business had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total transaction of $310,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,477,180. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 37,703 shares of company stock worth $10,900,823. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides security products and services to businesses, governments and other organizations worldwide. The company helps customers protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, applications and connected devices from cyber threats.

Its portfolio includes next-generation firewalls and network security technologies, as well as cloud-delivered security solutions such as Prisma Access and Prisma Cloud. Palo Alto Networks also offers Cortex products for endpoint protection, security operations, threat detection and response, and automation.

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