Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $375.65, but opened at $365.47. Palo Alto Networks shares last traded at $375.9240, with a volume of 1,198,091 shares trading hands.

Specifically, Director Aparna Bawa sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.18, for a total transaction of $188,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,862,137.66. This represents a 9.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.61, for a total transaction of $373,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,031,317.57. This trade represents a 15.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In other news, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total transaction of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,300. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $253.00 to $351.00 in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $420.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $404.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 price objective (up from $371.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $389.68.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.1%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $351.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.55 billion, a PE ratio of 742.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The business’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. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,833,462,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,415,364,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,968,304,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,569,755,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,481,236,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.