Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1.1% on Insider Selling

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares fell 1.1% after insider selling, with the stock trading between $346.90 and $348.06 on lighter-than-average volume.
• CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares and Director Aparna Bawa sold two blocks of stock, but the transactions were relatively small compared with their remaining holdings.
• Despite the stock dip, analyst sentiment remains bullish: several firms raised price targets, and the company recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates while posting 31.1% year-over-year revenue growth.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) dropped 1.1% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $346.90 and last traded at $348.06. 7,501,120 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 20% from the average daily volume of 9,369,250 shares. The stock had previously closed at $352.04.

Specifically, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total transaction of $310,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,477,180. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total transaction of $101,134.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,244,839.38. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 632 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.67, for a total transaction of $201,399.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,727 shares in the company, valued at $2,143,693.09. The trade was a 8.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group set a $300.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (up from $255.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $316.15.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $420 from $325 and reiterated an overweight rating, signaling more upside potential for PANW. Wells Fargo target raise
• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane lifted its target to $380 from $330 and kept an outperform rating, adding to the bullish analyst tone. BNP Paribas Exane target raise
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research also raised its target to $380 from $333 and maintained a buy rating, reinforcing expectations for continued strength. BTIG target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighted PANW’s strong fiscal Q3 results, including revenue and ARR beats, with demand tied to AI security and observability trends. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Aparna Bawa and CAO Josh D. Paul sold relatively small amounts of stock, which is worth noting but not necessarily a major red flag. SEC filing

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.1%

The firm has a market capitalization of $283.67 billion, a PE ratio of 285.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 0.91. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $251.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $199.26. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. South Plains Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the third quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 4,823 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $982,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 4,310 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Certified Advisory Corp raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 16,938 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,449,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,227 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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