Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Short Interest Update

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 45,790,000 shares, a growth of 33.2% from the July 31st total of 34,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,570,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days. Based on an average daily volume of 7,570,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total transaction of $23,081,119.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,008,788.94. This trade represents a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 569,422 shares of company stock valued at $106,629,618. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. St. Clair Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 4,668 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $955,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, GSG Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on PANW shares. UBS Group set a $185.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. KeyCorp cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Twenty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.68.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $197.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.83. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.