Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 2.9% – Should You Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price was up 2.9% on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $404.77 and last traded at $401.70. 4,766,543 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 8,088,505 shares. The stock had previously closed at $390.46.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on PANW. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $320.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $410.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $370.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $328.59 billion, a PE ratio of 787.66, a PEG ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

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, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total value of $103,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,825,163.56. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total transaction of $7,533,600.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029 in the last quarter. 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 made changes to their positions in PANW. Solstein Capital LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 125.0% during the second quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 81 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 148.1% in the first quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 201 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.