If you’re an investor in Palo Alto Networks who woke up this morning only to have your jaw drop when you saw the stock price (Nasdaq: PANW), don’t worry. The stock hasn’t actually dropped by nearly 50%. Instead, it just split. Here’s what you need to know.

In November, Palo Alto Networks announced that it would split its stock 2-for-1 after the close of the bell on Friday, December 13. The stock would begin trading at its new split-adjusted price on Monday, December 16. If you didn’t know this, you could be forgiven for thinking something had gone horribly wrong at the cybersecurity giant.

On Friday, PANW stock closed at $393.12 per share (down about 1.7 % for the day). But after the closing bell, the company’s stock price then split, bringing its share price down to $196.56, which is what PANW shares began trading at post-split.

So despite the........

© Fast Company