Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 3.9% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded down 3.9% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as low as $350.39 and last traded at $351.72. Approximately 6,636,358 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 8,064,768 shares. The stock had previously closed at $365.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $320.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Mizuho set a $415.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $284.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 170.00, a P/E/G ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $372.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.30.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total transaction of $10,769,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,110,900. This trade represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.61, for a total transaction of $373,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,031,317.57. This trade represents a 15.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. B&D White Capital Company LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $2,159,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% in the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 240,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $95,366,000 after buying an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 126.6% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 18,600 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,390,000 after buying an additional 10,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.5% in the 1st quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd now owns 14,641 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,347,000 after buying an additional 3,505 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc (NASDAQ:PANW) is a global cybersecurity company that helps organizations protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, and digital infrastructure. Its offerings are designed to prevent cyberattacks, identify security risks, monitor activity, and support incident response across enterprise, government, and service-provider environments.

The company’s portfolio includes network security products such as next-generation firewalls and security operations tools; Prisma, its cloud security platform; and Cortex, a suite focused on endpoint protection, threat detection, security analytics, and automated response.