Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 4.7% – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price traded down 4.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $361.02 and last traded at $357.5170. 1,606,511 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 8,431,200 shares. The stock had previously closed at $375.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $320.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $415.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Thirty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $389.68.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.6%

The company has a market cap of $295.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 707.94, a PEG ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $352.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $268.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total transaction of $242,795.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. This represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,667 shares of company stock valued at $4,560,718. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Solstein Capital LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 125.0% in the second quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 81 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.