Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 3.7% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares were down 3.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $323.85 and last traded at $325.91. 4,602,039 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 9,318,959 shares. The stock had previously closed at $338.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.65.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $271.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.80. The company has a market cap of $265.62 billion, a PE ratio of 267.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $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. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total transaction of $313,588.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,272,790.88. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This trade represents a 37.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Steph & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% during the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.