Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1% – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) fell 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $362.22 and last traded at $362.66. 5,518,779 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average daily volume of 8,936,902 shares. The stock had previously closed at $366.34.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price target (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up from $340.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Argus set a $425.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.76.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $311.92 and its 200-day moving average is $224.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $295.57 billion, a PE ratio of 297.26, a P/E/G ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total transaction of $16,270,119.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,037,002.95. This represents a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Trilogy Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% in the second quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,197 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,010,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Outfitters Financial LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Outfitters Financial LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $601,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.