Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday. The stock had previously closed at $397.03, but opened at $378.96. Palo Alto Networks shares last traded at $378.9410, with a volume of 2,054,102 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank cut Palo Alto Networks from a “sector outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $370.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $392.38.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 4.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $372.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $297.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 740.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.93.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.61, for a total value of $373,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,031,317.57. This trade represents a 15.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total value of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,300. This trade represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.0% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 472 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,285 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% in the second quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $725,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the second quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides solutions designed to help organizations protect networks, endpoints, cloud environments, applications and users from cyber threats. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud-delivered security services, secure access service edge (SASE) solutions, endpoint protection and security operations tools.

The company also provides platforms and services for cloud security, threat intelligence, incident response, vulnerability management and the automation of security operations.