Key Points
- Palo Alto Networks CAO Josh Paul sold 400 shares on May 20 at an average price of $236.95, totaling $94,780. After the sale, he still owned 82,736 shares worth about $19.6 million.
- The company recently reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.03 beating estimates and revenue of $2.59 billion slightly ahead of expectations. Revenue also rose 14.9% year over year.
- Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with several analysts raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target price of $226.33.
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) CAO Josh Paul sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.95, for a total transaction of $94,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 82,736 shares in the company, valued at $19,604,295.20. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.
Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $260.58 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average is $183.29 and its 200 day moving average is $182.32. The company has a market capitalization of $212.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $261.41.
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summitry LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $268,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 116.8% during the first quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 538,549 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $86,340,000 after purchasing an additional 290,170 shares during the last quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $273,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 14.7% during the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 149,277 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $23,932,000 after buying an additional 19,164 shares during the period. Finally, Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $1,344,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Argus raised shares of Palo Alto Networks to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $275.00 price target (up from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $226.33.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on PANW to $285 from $235 and kept an overweight rating, signaling further upside potential for the cybersecurity leader.
- Positive Sentiment: Truist also boosted its price target ahead of results, reinforcing Wall Street’s improving view of Palo Alto Networks’ earnings and growth outlook. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Gets Major Price Target Boost from Truist Ahead of Q1 Results
- Positive Sentiment: Jefferies said customers at the company’s Ignite On Tour event showed strong interest in PANW’s AI security offerings, with acquisitions Portkey and Koi Security attracting attention and little resistance to recent firewall price increases.
- Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary continued to highlight cybersecurity as a durable budget priority, with Palo Alto Networks added to Josh Brown’s “best stocks” list alongside other leading security names.
- Neutral Sentiment: One article framed PANW’s strong year-to-date outperformance versus Palantir as a possible rebalancing candidate, but the piece was more about relative performance than a new company-specific catalyst. Palo Alto Networks Is Beating Palantir by 60% This Year. Is a Rebalancing Imminent?
- Neutral Sentiment: Company insider selling by CAO Josh D. Paul was disclosed, though the 400-share sale was relatively small versus his remaining holdings and does not by itself signal a major shift in fundamentals.
- Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary also pointed to rising AI security demand for products like Prisma AIRS and XSIAM, supporting the long-term growth narrative rather than changing near-term results.
About Palo Alto Networks
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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