Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03, RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Palo Alto Networks updated its FY 2025 guidance to 3.260-3.280 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance to 0.870-0.890 EPS.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 6.8%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $181.26 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.01 billion, a PE ratio of 102.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 147.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.40.

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.