Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Releases Earnings Results

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks updated its Q2 guidance to $1.54-1.56 EPS and its FY25 guidance to $6.26-6.39 EPS.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $4.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $392.89. The company had a trading volume of 5,069,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,835,207. The firm has a market cap of $127.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.53, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $258.17 and a fifty-two week high of $408.53. The business’s fifty day moving average is $361.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $338.02.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $391.92.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.