Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $185.00. The stock had previously closed at $163.50, but opened at $149.55. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks shares last traded at $153.0770, with a volume of 14,522,564 shares changing hands.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $215.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $200.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Thirty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.68.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This trade represents a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Palo Alto Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 beat and ARR growth: Palo Alto reported better?than?expected Q2 results (EPS and revenue) and Next?Generation Security ARR grew ~33% year?over?year — evidence of platform demand. PR Newswire: Q2 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts still bullish: Several firms reaffirmed Buy/Outperform ratings with high price targets (e.g., Citizens JMP $250, Wedbush/Rosenblatt $225), signaling continued long?term support from parts of the sell?side. Benzinga: Analyst Reactions
• Neutral Sentiment: Product and research updates: Palo Alto launched MSIAM 2.0 and released its Unit 42 AI security report — moves that reinforce its product roadmap around AI security but won’t offset near?term cost concerns. PR Newswire: MSIAM 2.0
• Neutral Sentiment: Acquisition activity: Management announced intent to buy Koi (agentic endpoint) to bolster AI?era endpoint coverage — strategic for product positioning but adds integration work/costs. PR Newswire: Koi Acquisition
• Negative Sentiment: Profit/guidance disappointment and integration costs: Management trimmed or lowered near?term profit expectations and cited higher integration costs from recent deals (including large acquisitions), which led to the initial selloff. Reuters: Deal Costs & Share Reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Widespread price?target cuts: Multiple brokers cut their targets (Deutsche Bank to $220, Goldman to $224, Scotiabank, Needham, BMO, Mizuho, Loop Capital, Stifel and others lowered PTs), signaling reduced near?term upside in analyst models tied to margin risk. MarketScreener: PT Changes

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $28,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $106.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.77, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $181.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.