Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Jumps 5.1% – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) was up 5.1% during mid-day trading on Friday. The company traded as high as $419.50 and last traded at $418.78. Approximately 3,824,114 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 8,246,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $398.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Truist Financial set a $400.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Northland Securities set a $360.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $404.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Thirty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $391.32.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $342.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 821.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day moving average of $369.15 and a 200 day moving average of $292.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The company’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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total transaction of $7,533,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,110,900. The trade was a 18.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 53,960 shares of company stock valued at $20,719,959 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,285 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares during the period. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Journey Retirement Planning & Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $383,000. Finally, Gerald Baker Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $215,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.