Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1% After Insider Selling

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares traded down 1% during mid-day trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $181.91 and last traded at $183.99. 1,724,415 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 6,447,744 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.88.

Specifically, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total transaction of $128,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,948,576.60. The trade was a 1.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 15th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.52.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0%

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $190.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.