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

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after HSBC lowered their price target on the stock from $157.00 to $114.00. The stock had previously closed at $163.50, but opened at $149.55. Palo Alto Networks shares last traded at $153.0770, with a volume of 14,522,564 shares changing hands.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on PANW. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (down previously from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat expectations—revenue grew ~15% and ARR/RPO metrics point to ongoing subscription momentum; revenue guidance was raised, supporting longer‑term growth thesis. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat and other commentary frame the pullback as a “buy‑the‑dip” opportunity given a strong balance sheet, high institutional ownership and the company’s platform positioning in cybersecurity. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Palo Alto announced an offer to purchase CyberArk convertible notes as part of closing the CyberArk acquisition—a financing/cleanup step that facilitates the deal but also highlights the scale of transaction activity. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto is buying Koi to bolster AI/agentic endpoint security—adds product capabilities that could drive medium‑term ARR expansion. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts cut price targets and flagged margin pressure from deal/integration costs—HSBC sharply cut its PT to $114, and multiple firms trimmed targets, fueling downward pressure on the stock. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Company trimmed FY profit outlook citing higher integration and deal costs (CyberArk and other acquisitions); coverage highlights this as the main reason for the sell‑off. Read More. and Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual options activity—traders bought ~174,264 put options (≈399% above average put volume), suggesting elevated hedging or bearish positioning into the post‑earnings period.
• Negative Sentiment: Short‑term price action shows sizable intraday declines and commentary that the strong earnings were “priced in,” amplifying selling after guidance/profit warnings. Read More.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,547,000 after purchasing an additional 7,301 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,248.9% in the 3rd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 10,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after purchasing an additional 10,091 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of 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 worth $457,279,000 after buying an additional 163,718 shares during the period. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.2% during the second 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $179.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current 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.