Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 2.9% – Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares were down 2.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $321.87 and last traded at $325.63. 5,918,787 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 9,121,346 shares. The stock had previously closed at $335.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $387.00 target price (up from $320.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $340.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.48.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $300.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.58. The company has a market cap of $263.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 265.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion for 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%.Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total transaction of $242,795.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,045,721.30. This trade represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Trilogy Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the second quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $725,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,197 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Outfitters Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Outfitters Financial LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $601,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.