Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Director Aparna Bawa Sells 1,000 Shares of Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Director Aparna Bawa sold 1,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,031,317.57. The trade was a 15.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Aparna Bawa also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, September 15th, Aparna Bawa sold 500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.18, for a total value of $188,590.00.
• On Wednesday, July 1st, Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total value of $101,134.60.
• On Monday, June 29th, Aparna Bawa sold 632 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.67, for a total value of $201,399.44.
• On Monday, June 22nd, Aparna Bawa sold 345 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.17, for a total value of $100,108.65.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $375.65 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $398.88. 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 market cap of $307.28 billion, a PE ratio of 736.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $351.44 and a 200-day moving average of $266.73.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly 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. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,833,462,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 205,123 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,587,100,000 after buying an additional 594,789 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 706,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,934,935,000 after buying an additional 540,756 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $370.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Capital One Financial lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $421.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Mizuho set a $415.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Truist Financial set a $400.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $387.60.

Key Stories Impacting Palo Alto Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI adoption is increasing demand for cybersecurity platforms as companies seek protection against automated attacks, evolving malware and other AI-related risks. J.P. Morgan identified Palo Alto Networks among the cybersecurity companies positioned to benefit from this trend. AI Is Boosting Cybersecurity. CrowdStrike and 4 More Stocks to Buy.
• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank raised its fiscal 2027 EPS estimate for PANW to $2.30 from $2.11, matching the current consensus forecast. The upgrade to earnings expectations supports the case for improving fundamentals, although the bank retained a “Hold” rating. Scotiabank earnings estimate report
• Neutral Sentiment: Cybersecurity stocks have attracted investor interest as security spending remains more resilient than broader enterprise software spending. However, much of the sector’s AI-driven growth outlook may already be reflected in valuations, making continued execution important for PANW.
• Negative Sentiment: Directors disclosed several stock sales: Aparna Bawa sold 1,500 shares across September 14–15 for approximately $562,200, while John P. Key sold 2,500 shares for about $940,075. The transactions reduced their respective holdings by roughly 9% to 20%, potentially creating a modest sentiment overhang. Palo Alto Networks insider filings
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary highlights a trade-off for PANW: sales are accelerating as agentic AI expands security needs, but margins are contracting. With the stock trading at a very high earnings multiple, weaker profitability or slower growth could increase valuation risk. The Proliferation of Agentic AI Has Been Great News for Palo Alto Stock Investors

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides security products and services to businesses, governments and other organizations worldwide. The company helps customers protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, applications and connected devices from cyber threats.

Its portfolio includes next-generation firewalls and network security technologies, as well as cloud-delivered security solutions such as Prisma Access and Prisma Cloud. Palo Alto Networks also offers Cortex products for endpoint protection, security operations, threat detection and response, and automation.