Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Jumps 5.4% – Still a Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price rose 5.4% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $332.89 and last traded at $330.89. 5,836,849 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 8,047,816 shares. The stock had previously closed at $313.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Yorkville Ives assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, October 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Finally, New Street Research set a $415.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $370.30 and a 200 day moving average of $273.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.92 billion, a PE ratio of 648.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 0.96.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. 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 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 400 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.70, for a total transaction of $158,280.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 77,987 shares in the company, valued at $30,859,455.90. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John Key sold 2,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,300. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 125.0% during the 2nd quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 81 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Palo Alto Networks serves businesses, government agencies and other organizations around the world.