Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Falls 1.7% – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares traded down 1.7% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $395.80 and last traded at $398.50. Approximately 4,394,883 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 8,268,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $405.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $253.00 to $351.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $430.00 target price (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Citigroup cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $391.32.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 5.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $342.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 821.15, a P/E/G ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $370.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.25.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $3.41 billion during 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 revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $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. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total value of $10,769,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 117,750 shares in the company, valued at $46,110,900. This trade represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total transaction of $7,533,600.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.0% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 472 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,285 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Trilogy Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the second quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $725,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the second quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orrstown Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,197 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides solutions designed to help organizations protect networks, endpoints, cloud environments, applications and users from cyber threats. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud-delivered security services, secure access service edge (SASE) solutions, endpoint protection and security operations tools.

The company also provides platforms and services for cloud security, threat intelligence, incident response, vulnerability management and the automation of security operations.