Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 2.9% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares were down 2.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $321.87 and last traded at $325.63. 5,918,787 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 9,121,346 shares. The stock had previously closed at $335.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $340.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Argus set a $425.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.48.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $297.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $215.80. The stock has a market cap of $265.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 266.91, a P/E/G ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.91. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion for 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 previous 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, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total value of $2,094,300.00. Following the sale, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $1,415,364,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,476,753 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,603,473,000 after acquiring an additional 3,101,267 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,512,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1,665.1% during the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,761,909 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $442,788,000 after purchasing an additional 2,605,433 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 67.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 6,297,833 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,009,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,528,299 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.