Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Falls 3.6% Following Insider Selling

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares traded down 3.6% during mid-day trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $397.71 and last traded at $403.83. 4,794,137 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 8,228,138 shares. The stock had previously closed at $418.78.

Specifically, Director Aparna Bawa sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total transaction of $103,070.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,825,163.56. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Stephens set a $400.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $390.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $430.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $392.38.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $330.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 791.84, a PEG ratio of 12.05 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $370.88 and its 200-day moving average is $294.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. 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. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 472 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,285 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $511,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Trilogy Capital Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Orrstown Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the second quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,197 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.