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

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price was up 2.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $170.49 and last traded at $166.95. Approximately 12,049,947 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 10,142,253 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.81.

Palo Alto Networks News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Long-term bull case highlighted — several analyst/commentary pieces argue PANW remains a structural growth name in cybersecurity and a smart buy for long-term investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company growth deals and product momentum are cited as offsets to recent analyst cuts, reinforcing the view that near-term analyst noise may not derail multi-year growth. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q2 preview: Zacks notes PANW is entering Q2 with mid?teen revenue growth expectations but flags decelerating ARR momentum and a premium valuation — a key focus for the upcoming print. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary: PANW recently dropped more than the broader market in intraday moves, reflecting short-term volatility ahead of earnings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target cuts: JPMorgan lowered its PANW target to $225, and other firms (Rosenblatt, BTIG) trimmed targets (Rosenblatt to $225; BTIG to $200), which reduces near-term upside expectations despite some firms maintaining “buy” ratings. Read More. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Deal and listing risk: reports say PANW plans a dual listing on the Tel?Aviv Stock Exchange after closing the ~$25B CyberArk acquisition — there’s short?term investor concern about integration complexity and political/geographic exposure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/reputational risk: Reuters reports PANW opted not to publicly tie China to a recent global hacking campaign it exposed, citing fears of retaliation — this raises potential client, regulatory and reputation considerations. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. UBS Group set a $215.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.97.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.26. The company has a market capitalization of $116.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.66, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next?generation firewalls as a core on?premises capability, alongside cloud?delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.