Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 2.8% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares traded down 2.8% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $347.68 and last traded at $349.56. Approximately 4,666,602 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 8,684,847 shares. The stock had previously closed at $359.76.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Northland Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $475.00 target price (up from $420.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.67.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $291.80 billion, a PE ratio of 293.48, a PEG ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $337.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $241.72.

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

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. This represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total value of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,598,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,935 shares of company stock valued at $10,809,461. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Trilogy Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $725,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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. grew 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 worth $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.8% in the second quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 1,751 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $597,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in 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 valued at $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.