Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) released its earnings results on Monday. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10, Briefing.com reports. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks updated its Q1 guidance to $1.47-1.49 EPS and its FY25 guidance to $6.18-6.31 EPS.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $9.25 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $343.36. 7,643,920 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,385,861. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $224.64 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $326.31 and its 200-day moving average is $310.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.91, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $99,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $99,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at $6,292,166.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 367,315 shares of company stock worth $118,696,590 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Argus lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Macquarie upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.59.

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.