Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 1.5% on Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price was down 1.5% during mid-day trading 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 changed hands 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 subject of a number of other reports. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Mizuho set a $200.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. Stephens increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Thirty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 value 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. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 in the last ninety days. 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: 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 and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Steph & Co. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $121.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.15, a PEG ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.49.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.