Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $330.65, but opened at $346.49. Palo Alto Networks shares last traded at $361.9420, with a volume of 1,665,669 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Roth Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 target price (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. FBN Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $390.00 price objective (up from $371.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $320.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.60.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 12.6%

The firm has a market cap of $304.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 724.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50 day moving average is $349.25 and its 200-day moving average is $261.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion for 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $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. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh Paul sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total transaction of $310,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,477,180. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. This represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,667 shares of company stock worth $3,058,443. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bullseye Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Marathon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marathon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,115 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,472,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the period. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd. now owns 2,664 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $429,000. Finally, Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 437.9% during the 2nd quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 22,856 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,794,000 after purchasing an additional 18,607 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.