FY2025 EPS Estimates for PANW Lifted by Cantor Fitzgerald

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) – Equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Palo Alto Networks in a research note issued on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst now anticipates that the network technology company will post earnings of $1.76 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $1.74. Cantor Fitzgerald has a “Overweight” rating and a $223.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ current full-year earnings is $1.74 per share.

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

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.77.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $196.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.28. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $130.04 and a one year high of $207.24.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.