Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Jumps 1.4% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) rose 1.4% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $356.00 and last traded at $346.95. Approximately 4,593,748 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 8,170,779 shares. The stock had previously closed at $342.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $434.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $525.00 target price (up from $475.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, October 12th. Northland Securities set a $360.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $253.00 to $351.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.25.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $372.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $302.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $283.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 680.31, a P/E/G ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.93.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s 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 expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total value of $103,070.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,825,163.56. This trade represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total value of $10,769,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares in the company, valued at $46,110,900. This trade represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $28,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc (NASDAQ:PANW) is a global cybersecurity company that helps organizations protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, and digital infrastructure. Its offerings are designed to prevent cyberattacks, identify security risks, monitor activity, and support incident response across enterprise, government, and service-provider environments.

The company’s portfolio includes network security products such as next-generation firewalls and security operations tools; Prisma, its cloud security platform; and Cortex, a suite focused on endpoint protection, threat detection, security analytics, and automated response.