Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 1.9% – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) fell 1.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $334.03 and last traded at $342.15. 6,717,519 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average daily volume of 9,156,878 shares. The stock had previously closed at $348.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $387.00 price target (up from $320.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up from $340.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, July 13th. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Argus set a $425.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.48.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $292.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $278.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 280.45, a P/E/G ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 trade represents a 10.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $27,477,180. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $900,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.