Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 7.2% – Still a Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) was up 7.2% during trading on Friday. The company traded as high as $381.49 and last traded at $380.55. Approximately 6,557,509 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 8,119,665 shares. The stock had previously closed at $354.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $434.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $320.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $201.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $525.00 target price (up from $475.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $369.41 and its 200 day moving average is $307.28. 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 company has a market cap of $311.29 billion, a PE ratio of 746.19, a PEG ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 0.93.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $3.41 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.68, for a total value of $336,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 72,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,085,821.12. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.61, for a total value of $373,610.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,031,317.57. The trade was a 15.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 6,807 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,704,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. One Wealth Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 201.7% during the 3rd quarter. One Wealth Capital Management LLC now owns 2,145 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management now owns 1,523 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,586 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 846 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.