Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 1.1% on Insider Selling

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price traded down 1.1% during trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $346.90 and last traded at $348.06. Approximately 7,501,120 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 9,369,250 shares. The stock had previously closed at $352.04.

Specifically, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total transaction of $310,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares in the company, valued at $27,477,180. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total value of $101,134.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,244,839.38. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 632 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.67, for a total value of $201,399.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,143,693.09. This trade represents a 8.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. UBS Group set a $300.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Capital One Financial increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $168.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.15.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $420 from $325 and reiterated an overweight rating, signaling more upside potential for PANW. Wells Fargo target raise
• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane lifted its target to $380 from $330 and kept an outperform rating, adding to the bullish analyst tone. BNP Paribas Exane target raise
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research also raised its target to $380 from $333 and maintained a buy rating, reinforcing expectations for continued strength. BTIG target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighted PANW’s strong fiscal Q3 results, including revenue and ARR beats, with demand tied to AI security and observability trends. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Aparna Bawa and CAO Josh D. Paul sold relatively small amounts of stock, which is worth noting but not necessarily a major red flag. SEC filing

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.1%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $251.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $199.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $283.67 billion, a PE ratio of 285.30, a P/E/G ratio of 12.66 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The firm’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $65,796,000 after purchasing an additional 53,485 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $104,774,000 after purchasing an additional 29,230 shares during the last quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% in the first quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 48,458 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,926,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $1,554,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.