Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares dropped 1.5% on Friday after HSBC lowered their price target on the stock from $157.00 to $114.00. The company traded as low as $148.40 and last traded at $148.70. Approximately 25,672,200 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 125% from the average daily volume of 11,392,047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.99.

PANW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stephens boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Truist Financial set a $200.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.51.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Palo Alto Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto announced the planned acquisition of Koi, a startup focused on agentic endpoint security — a strategic move to plug AI-related security gaps and expand its AI/security platform footprint. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) to Acquire Koi
• Positive Sentiment: Palo Alto filed an offer relating to CyberArk’s convertible notes tied to its CyberArk acquisition, signaling active balance-sheet management as it closes recent M&A. This helps reassure investors that integration and financing steps are being executed. Palo Alto Networks Announces Offer to Purchase Relating to CyberArk Software Ltd.’s Notes
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarter showed revenue and EPS roughly in line-to-slightly-better-than expectations and management raised revenue guidance at the low end, supporting the case for durable topline growth driven by platform and subscription momentum. (Company releases and analyst coverage)
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms reiterated Outperform/Buy ratings (e.g., Citizens JMP, Wedbush, RBC, Rosenblatt) — indicating pockets of institutional confidence even as some analysts trimmed estimates.
• Negative Sentiment: A cluster of analyst downgrades and price-target cuts hit PANW, driving headline selling and raising near-term skepticism about margin recovery amid integration costs. See coverage of the downgrade-driven selloff. Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 6.8% on Analyst Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Susquehanna cut its price target (and multiple banks including Goldman, HSBC, Mizuho, BMO and others issued more pessimistic forecasts or lowered targets), amplifying pressure on the stock’s near-term outlook. Susquehanna Lowers Palo Alto Networks Price Target to $200.00
• Negative Sentiment: HSBC notably cut its target to $114, highlighting the range of analyst views and contributing to sentiment-driven selling. HSBC Adjusts Price Target on Palo Alto Networks to $114
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put-option buying and elevated volume/gap-down trading indicate traders are positioned for further near-term weakness; this increases volatility and can exacerbate downward moves until clarity on integration costs and margin recovery arrives.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $25,000. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.5%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $178.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.65. The company has a market capitalization of $121.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.15, a PEG ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (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 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $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. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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.