Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 3.1% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) were down 3.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $335.51 and last traded at $339.90. 4,578,883 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 8,618,194 shares. The stock had previously closed at $350.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.87.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.1%

The stock has a market cap of $277.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 278.61, a P/E/G ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $338.70 and its 200 day moving average is $243.49.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total value of $313,588.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 81,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,272,790.88. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,490,500. This trade represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 37,935 shares of company stock valued at $10,809,461 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trilogy Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the second 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 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 worth $1,093,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,197 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. WNY Asset Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 1,751 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSG Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the first quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.