Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 2.2% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shot up 2.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $374.56 and last traded at $371.76. 5,135,576 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 8,474,989 shares. The stock had previously closed at $363.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on PANW shares. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Northland Securities set a $360.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Roth Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Arete Research raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $185.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Thirty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $390.02.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.9%

The firm has a market cap of $309.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 740.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $354.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $272.87. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,045,721.30. This represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh Paul sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares in the company, valued at $27,477,180. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 28,322 shares of company stock valued at $10,546,409 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the second 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 during the period. Wellington Altus USA Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 17.8% during the second quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 993 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 90.1% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 325 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $382,000. Finally, Bullseye Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $55,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.