Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday. The stock had previously closed at $397.03, but opened at $378.96. Palo Alto Networks shares last traded at $378.9410, with a volume of 2,054,102 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 7th. Argus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $525.00 price objective (up from $475.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday. Thirty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $392.38.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $309.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 740.56, a PEG ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $372.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $297.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John Key sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total transaction of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,300. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.61, for a total transaction of $373,610.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,031,317.57. This trade represents a 15.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% in the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 205,123 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% during the second 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 worth $2,993,802,000 after buying an additional 706,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,466,118 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,036,648,000 after purchasing an additional 273,103 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.