Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 3.8% – Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price traded down 3.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $209.72 and last traded at $210.04. 4,386,843 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 6,143,035 shares. The stock had previously closed at $218.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 15th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.50.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $208.24 and a 200 day moving average of $196.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 356,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,675,777.46. This trade represents a 25.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock valued at $249,160,428 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 205,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $41,957,000 after buying an additional 41,392 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 39,893 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,164,000 after buying an additional 3,351 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.