Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 2.1% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price traded down 2.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $264.42 and last traded at $266.33. 6,766,446 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 9,646,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $272.05.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: New commentary suggests Prisma AIRS is seeing rapid customer adoption, with larger AI security deals helping expand Palo Alto Networks’ revenue opportunity. Is Prisma AIRS Becoming Palo Alto Networks’ Fastest Growth Engine?
• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank raised its FY2027 EPS estimate to $2.11 from $2.10 and kept a $320 price target, signaling continued confidence in the company’s long-term earnings power.
• Neutral Sentiment: Northland Securities maintained a Market Perform rating and a $302 price target, while reiterating multiple forward EPS estimates, reflecting a wait-and-see stance rather than a strong directional call.
• Negative Sentiment: Northland trimmed its FY2026 EPS estimate to $1.97 from $2.07 and cut FY2027 EPS to $1.77 from $2.20, which may pressure sentiment around near- and medium-term profitability expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: Scotiabank also lowered its FY2026 EPS estimate to $2.02 from $2.14, suggesting some analyst concern about the pace of earnings growth in the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. New Street Research dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price target (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.59.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.0%

The business’s fifty day moving average is $209.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.35. The company has a market cap of $214.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 215.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total transaction of $313,588.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 81,636 shares in the company, valued at $23,272,790.88. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora acquired 68,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at $50,434,276.78. This represents a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 72,076 shares of company stock worth $17,930,587 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $75,412,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,926,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $136,859,000 after purchasing an additional 384,985 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $277,828,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments Management Co LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 54,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,077,000 after purchasing an additional 15,091 shares during the last quarter. 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.