Hsbc Global Res Downgrades Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) to Moderate Sell

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was downgraded by investment analysts at Hsbc Global Res from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. New Street Research boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Northland Securities raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $182.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.76, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.95. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $208.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.31.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction 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 trade represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total value of $23,081,119.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,008,788.94. This represents a 40.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 1,215,130 shares of company stock valued at $249,031,488 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position 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 bought a new stake 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 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by 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.