Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 2.5% – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) rose 2.5% on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $341.80 and last traded at $334.47. 4,781,409 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 8,017,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $326.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Northland Securities set a $360.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $404.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Mizuho set a $415.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $410.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $273.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 655.84, a P/E/G ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $368.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick 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, 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 firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total value of $7,533,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total value of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,300. This trade represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at about $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,610,748,000 after buying an additional 1,493,179 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% during 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 buying an additional 205,123 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,993,802,000 after acquiring an additional 706,003 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,142,895 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,235,254,000 after acquiring an additional 2,386,906 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is a cybersecurity company that provides products and services to help organizations protect their networks, cloud environments, devices and applications. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud security tools, secure access services and platforms for detecting and responding to cyber threats. The company’s product portfolio includes Prisma for cloud and network security and Cortex for security operations, including threat detection and response. It also provides cybersecurity consulting and incident-response services through Unit 42.