Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 3.1% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks' shares fell 3.1% to $208.55, marking a significant drop from the previous closing price of $215.17 and a 22% decrease in trading volume.
• Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with 28 buy ratings, 12 hold ratings, and 2 sell ratings, and a current consensus target price of $214.95.
• Insider trading activity included the sale of over 1.3 million shares by company executives, with CEO Nikesh Arora significantly reducing his stake by 75.48%.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) shares fell 3.1% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $208.31 and last traded at $208.55. 4,938,862 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 22% from the average session volume of 6,341,311 shares. The stock had previously closed at $215.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 15th. New Street Research upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.95.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.1%

The stock's 50-day moving average is $192.23 and its 200 day moving average is $189.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.50 billion, a PE ratio of 129.94, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.98.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $260,687,367. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $13,100,311,000 after buying an additional 1,240,830 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,093,262,000 after purchasing an additional 169,055 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,177,765,000 after purchasing an additional 950,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,295,588 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,083,689,000 after purchasing an additional 377,496 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.

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