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

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

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $181.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $120.01 billion, a PE ratio of 102.12, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $178.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks stock. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 169.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares during the quarter. Bison Wealth LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JMP Securities raised 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.40.

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.