Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 2.1% – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares traded down 2.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $212.35 and last traded at $214.52. 6,131,289 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 1% from the average session volume of 6,179,231 shares. The stock had previously closed at $219.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. KeyCorp downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Tigress Financial initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.17.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.1%

The firm has a market cap of $143.49 billion, a PE ratio of 133.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $205.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business 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. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $141,512.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 32,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,564,943.84. This represents a 2.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,094,356 shares of company stock valued at $222,684,964. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,100,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,830 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,093,262,000 after buying an additional 169,055 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,177,765,000 after purchasing an additional 950,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,295,588 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,083,689,000 after buying an additional 377,496 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.