Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 3.8% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded down 3.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $351.46 and last traded at $359.76. Approximately 5,263,393 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 8,710,141 shares. The stock had previously closed at $374.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PANW. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial set a $435.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $360.89.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.8%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $332.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $293.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 294.89, a P/E/G ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.91.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total value of $5,598,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,598,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares in the company, valued at $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 100,839 shares of company stock valued at $27,079,580. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.