Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 3.1% – What’s Next?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) were down 3.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $335.51 and last traded at $339.90. Approximately 4,578,883 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 8,618,194 shares. The stock had previously closed at $350.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Benchmark increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.87.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.1%

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $338.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $243.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $277.02 billion, a PE ratio of 278.61, a PEG ratio of 12.00 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 earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,244,839.38. This represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,045,721.30. The trade was a 10.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,935 shares of company stock worth $10,809,461. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Solstein Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.