Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 1.9% After Insider Selling

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares fell 1.9% after insider selling, with the stock trading as low as $284.28 during the session.
• EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares for about $1.45 million, and Director Aparna Bawa sold 345 shares, both disclosed in SEC filings.
• Despite the dip, analysts remain broadly bullish: the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $306.59, and recent reports raised several targets to as high as $375.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 1.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $284.28 and last traded at $285.26. Approximately 4,869,600 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 9,404,181 shares. The stock had previously closed at $290.92.

Specifically, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 145,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 345 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.17, for a total value of $100,108.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,135,361.03. This trade represents a 4.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Susquehanna reiterated 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $306.59.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.9%

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $233.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.49 billion, a PE ratio of 233.82, a PEG ratio of 10.63 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,587,100,000 after purchasing an additional 594,789 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,476,753 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,603,473,000 after purchasing an additional 3,101,267 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in 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 buying an additional 540,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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