Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report)’s share price traded down 5.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $370.50 and last traded at $375.04. 6,845,154 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 8,197,465 shares. The stock had previously closed at $397.03.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts have commented on PANW shares. Robert W. Baird set a $420.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $434.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Mizuho set a $415.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Thirty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $392.38.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on PANW
Palo Alto Networks Price Performance
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.
Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks
In other news, Director John Key sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total value of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,300. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $46,110,900. This trade represents a 18.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,610,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493,179 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,681,876 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,734,973,000 after buying an additional 205,123 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,778,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,993,802,000 after acquiring an additional 706,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,466,118 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,036,648,000 after purchasing an additional 273,103 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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.
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