Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 3.2% – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares shot up 3.2% on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $432.33 and last traded at $419.91. Approximately 5,438,058 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 8,312,048 shares. The stock had previously closed at $406.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 price target (up from $371.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $430.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Thirty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $391.32.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average is $363.84 and its 200-day moving average is $287.28. The company has a market cap of $343.49 billion, a PE ratio of 823.37, a P/E/G ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 0.93.

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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current 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 on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total value of $7,533,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total transaction of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,300. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,960 shares of company stock worth $20,719,959. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,610,748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493,179 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,681,876 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,734,973,000 after purchasing an additional 205,123 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in the second 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 valued at $2,993,802,000 after acquiring an additional 706,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,968,304,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.