Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) released its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10, Briefing.com reports. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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 Price Performance

PANW stock traded down $8.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $359.75. The stock had a trading volume of 4,999,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,444,848. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $328.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $310.84. The firm has a market cap of $116.49 billion, a PE ratio of 52.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $224.64 and a 12-month high of $380.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at $6,292,166.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the president now owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,292,166.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,993 shares of company stock valued at $118,596,770 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Daiwa America upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.49.

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.