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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. 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 Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $4.83 on Wednesday, reaching $392.89. 5,069,620 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,835,207. The business’s 50-day moving average is $361.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $338.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.53, a PEG 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $391.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. This represents a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.