Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 2.3% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares dropped 2.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $327.05 and last traded at $330.65. 4,674,214 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 8,484,548 shares. The stock had previously closed at $338.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $475.00 price target (up from $420.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $253.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $394.00 price target (up from $387.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, August 31st. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.60.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $349.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.57. The company has a market capitalization of $269.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 648.35, a PEG ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 79,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,477,180. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,058,590. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,667 shares of company stock worth $3,058,443. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $65,796,000 after acquiring an additional 53,485 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $104,774,000 after acquiring an additional 29,230 shares in the last quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,159,000. Finally, Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% during the first quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides security products and services to businesses, governments and other organizations worldwide. The company helps customers protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, applications and connected devices from cyber threats.

Its portfolio includes next-generation firewalls and network security technologies, as well as cloud-delivered security solutions such as Prisma Access and Prisma Cloud. Palo Alto Networks also offers Cortex products for endpoint protection, security operations, threat detection and response, and automation.