Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Falls 3.9% – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price was down 3.9% during trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $373.78 and last traded at $374.74. 4,852,234 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 8,420,320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $389.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $390.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $253.00 to $351.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $404.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Phillip Securities downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $346.00 in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Thirty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $390.02.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $355.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $276.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.54 billion, a PE ratio of 734.80, a PEG ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%.The company had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total transaction of $940,075.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,300. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. This represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,322 shares of company stock worth $10,546,409. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 20.9% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 103,822 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $35,405,000 after buying an additional 17,982 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,610,748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493,179 shares during the period. Wellington Altus USA Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 993 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 90.1% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 325 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $382,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides security products and services to businesses, governments and other organizations worldwide. The company helps customers protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, applications and connected devices from cyber threats.

Its portfolio includes next-generation firewalls and network security technologies, as well as cloud-delivered security solutions such as Prisma Access and Prisma Cloud. Palo Alto Networks also offers Cortex products for endpoint protection, security operations, threat detection and response, and automation.