Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 2% – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price traded down 2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $316.70 and last traded at $317.32. 5,126,081 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 9,056,118 shares. The stock had previously closed at $323.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up from $340.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group set a $300.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.48.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $300.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $217.83. 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 has a market capitalization of $258.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 260.10, a P/E/G ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. This trade represents a 10.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trilogy Capital Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Outfitters Financial LLC raised its position 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 worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.