Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $185.00. The stock had previously closed at $163.50, but opened at $149.55. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks shares last traded at $153.0770, with a volume of 14,522,564 shares.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on PANW. Barclays set a $200.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Thirty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.68.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 beat and ARR growth: Palo Alto reported better‑than‑expected Q2 results (EPS and revenue) and Next‑Generation Security ARR grew ~33% year‑over‑year — evidence of platform demand. PR Newswire: Q2 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts still bullish: Several firms reaffirmed Buy/Outperform ratings with high price targets (e.g., Citizens JMP $250, Wedbush/Rosenblatt $225), signaling continued long‑term support from parts of the sell‑side. Benzinga: Analyst Reactions
• Neutral Sentiment: Product and research updates: Palo Alto launched MSIAM 2.0 and released its Unit 42 AI security report — moves that reinforce its product roadmap around AI security but won’t offset near‑term cost concerns. PR Newswire: MSIAM 2.0
• Neutral Sentiment: Acquisition activity: Management announced intent to buy Koi (agentic endpoint) to bolster AI‑era endpoint coverage — strategic for product positioning but adds integration work/costs. PR Newswire: Koi Acquisition
• Negative Sentiment: Profit/guidance disappointment and integration costs: Management trimmed or lowered near‑term profit expectations and cited higher integration costs from recent deals (including large acquisitions), which led to the initial selloff. Reuters: Deal Costs & Share Reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Widespread price‑target cuts: Multiple brokers cut their targets (Deutsche Bank to $220, Goldman to $224, Scotiabank, Needham, BMO, Mizuho, Loop Capital, Stifel and others lowered PTs), signaling reduced near‑term upside in analyst models tied to margin risk. MarketScreener: PT Changes

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,547,000 after acquiring an additional 7,301 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,389,000 after acquiring an additional 8,282 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,248.9% during the third quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 10,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after buying an additional 10,091 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,234,551 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $457,279,000 after buying an additional 163,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.2% in the 2nd quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 1,531 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $181.06 and a 200-day moving average of $192.21. The company has a market capitalization of $106.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.