Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 22,768,366 shares, a decrease of 50.8% from the January 29th total of 46,289,607 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 17,339,422 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 17,339,422 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,587,100,000 after acquiring an additional 594,789 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,568,964,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065,776 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,934,935,000 after acquiring an additional 540,756 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $149.40 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The stock has a market cap of $121.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.54, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $175.36 and its 200-day moving average is $190.82.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays set a $200.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group set a $183.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.62.

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.