Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Jumps 5.4% – Still a Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price traded up 5.4% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $332.89 and last traded at $330.89. Approximately 5,836,849 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 8,047,816 shares. The stock had previously closed at $313.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up from $410.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, August 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $253.00 to $351.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, New Street Research set a $415.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 5.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $370.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $273.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 648.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 0.96.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. 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 anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total value of $940,075.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,300. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optas LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,477 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 880,090 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $349,546,000 after purchasing an additional 129,360 shares during the last quarter. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 114.9% during the third quarter. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 46,198 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $18,355,000 after buying an additional 24,697 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 43.1% during the third quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,046,655 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $415,835,000 after buying an additional 315,132 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.3% during the third quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 540,572 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $214,775,000 after buying an additional 41,613 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides products and services to help organizations protect their networks, cloud environments, devices and applications. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud security tools, secure access services and platforms for detecting and responding to cyber threats.

The company’s product portfolio includes Prisma for cloud and network security and Cortex for security operations, including threat detection and response. It also provides cybersecurity consulting and incident-response services through Unit 42.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Palo Alto Networks serves businesses, government agencies and other organizations around the world.