Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Cross Below Fifty Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares passed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $372.15 and traded as low as $359.76. Palo Alto Networks shares last traded at $365.87, with a volume of 7,565,498 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $440.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target 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. Wedbush started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.9%

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 stock has a market capitalization of $299.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 717.41, a PEG ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $372.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $269.89.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for 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%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $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, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total value of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,300. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total transaction of $10,769,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 117,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,110,900. This trade represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 125.0% in the second 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 last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.