Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 3.1% – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price dropped 3.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $356.00 and last traded at $363.58. Approximately 13,750,356 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 62% from the average daily volume of 8,497,036 shares. The stock had previously closed at $375.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on PANW. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $404.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $390.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Thirty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $389.68.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $352.18 and a 200-day moving average of $268.33. The stock has a market cap of $297.41 billion, a PE ratio of 712.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the prior year, the business 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total transaction of $940,075.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,300. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,667 shares of company stock valued at $4,560,718. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Altus USA Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 993 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 90.1% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 325 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $382,000. Bullseye Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Marathon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% in the second quarter. Marathon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,115 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,472,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional 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.