Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Director Sells $5,598,000.00 in Stock

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total transaction of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,598,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $287.78 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $225.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $191.98. The company has a market capitalization of $234.54 billion, a PE ratio of 235.89, a P/E/G ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $302.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. 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, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $114.00 to $207.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.59.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd now owns 76,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,235,000 after buying an additional 4,024 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 942,520 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $151,105,000 after buying an additional 84,915 shares during the last quarter. First Nebraska Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth $534,000. Foguth Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth $168,000. Finally, Financial Solutions Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $296,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.