Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 1.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price was down 1.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price target on the stock from $212.00 to $175.00. Daiwa Securities Group currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $139.57 and last traded at $141.67. Approximately 23,510,607 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 100% from the average daily volume of 11,770,127 shares. The stock had previously closed at $144.14.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on PANW. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased 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, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company-level fundamentals show continuing revenue growth and management set FY‑2026 EPS guidance (3.65–3.70) and Q3 guidance, supporting the view of durable subscription/AI-driven demand. Palo Alto Networks: Organic Growth Begins To Normalize, Q3 EPS Miss Driven By Share Dilution
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst raised FY2026 EPS estimates for PANW, indicating some sell‑side confidence in the company’s forward earnings trajectory. FY2026 EPS Estimate for Palo Alto Networks Raised by Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer and media coverage are keeping PANW in public view — attention can amplify moves in either direction but doesn’t change fundamentals. Jim Cramer Discusses Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons with peers (e.g., CrowdStrike) highlight differing strategies — PANW’s platform approach vs. CRWD’s acquisition growth — which frames investor preference but is not an immediate catalyst. Cybersecurity Showdown: CrowdStrike’s Acquisition Spree vs Palo Alto’s Platform Play
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst (Daiwa) cut PANW’s price target from $212 to $175 — the downgrade of expectations (even with an “outperform” rating retained) is weighing on sentiment. Daiwa Securities Adjusts PT on Palo Alto Networks to $175 from $212, Maintains Outperform Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Sector-wide selling after Anthropic released an AI tool that scans code for vulnerabilities has triggered fears that automated AI tools could displace parts of cybersecurity vendors’ workflows. This is a major near-term headwind for PANW. Cybersecurity stocks drop for a second day as new Anthropic tool fuels AI disruption fears
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary (and the Seeking Alpha angle) points to EPS pressure from share dilution — investors may be penalizing dilution risk despite GAAP/adjusted beats. Palo Alto Networks: Organic Growth Begins To Normalize, Q3 EPS Miss Driven By Share Dilution

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Klingman & Associates LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the third quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% in the third quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Mattern Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.7%

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $176.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.43. The company has a market capitalization of $115.60 billion, a PE ratio of 78.27, a PEG ratio of 5.21 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS 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.