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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03, RTT News reports. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue 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

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $181.26 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $178.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.29. The company has a market capitalization 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday. Finally, Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

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

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.