Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 7.6% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares fell 7.6% to $342 during Friday’s trading, with volume slightly above average, bringing the stock below its 50-day moving average of $373.10.
• Despite the selloff, analysts remain broadly bullish: PANW has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $393.02, with individual targets ranging from $390 to $450.
• The company recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.02 in EPS and $3.41 billion in revenue, up 34.5% year over year. However, insiders sold more than $20.8 million of shares over the past three months.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) fell 7.6% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $339.55 and last traded at $342.00. Approximately 8,748,244 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 7% from the average session volume of 8,188,638 shares. The stock had previously closed at $370.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $420.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Mizuho set a $415.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $410.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $390.00 target price (up from $371.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $393.02.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $279.76 billion, a PE ratio of 670.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 0.93. The business's 50 day moving average is $373.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $300.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. The business had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.160-4.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total value of $10,769,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 117,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,110,900. This represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total value of $7,533,600.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,610,748,000 after buying an additional 1,493,179 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,681,876 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $7,734,973,000 after acquiring an additional 205,123 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,778,963 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,993,802,000 after purchasing an additional 706,003 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,968,304,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides solutions designed to help organizations protect networks, endpoints, cloud environments, applications and users from cyber threats. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud-delivered security services, secure access service edge (SASE) solutions, endpoint protection and security operations tools.

The company also provides platforms and services for cloud security, threat intelligence, incident response, vulnerability management and the automation of security operations.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.