Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 5.8% Higher – Should You Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded up 5.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $385.17 and last traded at $385.04. Approximately 5,673,651 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 8,875,932 shares. The stock had previously closed at $363.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus set a $425.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Northland Securities raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $337.35.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $314.48 billion, a PE ratio of 316.28, a P/E/G ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $321.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total value of $313,588.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares in the company, valued at $23,272,790.88. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,490,500. The trade was a 37.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CFO4Life Group LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $387,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $526,000. WealthShield Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $5,345,000. Madison Wealth Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $392,000. Finally, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $40,453,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next?generation firewalls as a core on?premises capability, alongside cloud?delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.