Research Analysts Issue Forecasts for PANW FY2025 Earnings

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) – Equities research analysts at DA Davidson lowered their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Palo Alto Networks in a report released on Tuesday, December 17th. DA Davidson analyst R. Kessinger now anticipates that the network technology company will earn $1.74 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $1.75. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ current full-year earnings is $3.49 per share.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $195.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com raised Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $189.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $124.26 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $191.89 and a 200-day moving average of $175.31. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $130.04 and a 52-week high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 72,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.25, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,231,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 571,172 shares of company stock valued at $107,074,352 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Tradewinds LLC. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.