Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 7.4% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares traded down 7.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $183.20 and last traded at $185.07. 15,900,980 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 157% from the average session volume of 6,182,770 shares. The stock had previously closed at $199.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. HSBC lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Tigress Financial initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price objective for the company. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.68.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 7.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $126.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day moving average is $209.31 and its 200 day moving average is $197.43.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-3.900 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 0.930-0.950 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total value of $153,979.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,449,674.85. This represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total transaction of $26,321,485.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 356,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,675,777.46. This trade represents a 25.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 1,215,130 shares of company stock worth $249,031,488 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.