Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Sets New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $144.15 and last traded at $145.3320, with a volume of 9399650 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $148.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Thirty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.51.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.1%

The company’s fifty day moving average is $178.60 and its 200-day moving average is $191.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.64, a P/E/G ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 3,099 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 186.3% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by 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.