FY2025 EPS Forecast for Palo Alto Networks Lifted by Analyst

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) – Investment analysts at DA Davidson upped their FY2025 EPS estimates for Palo Alto Networks in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, November 21st. DA Davidson analyst R. Kessinger now expects that the network technology company will post earnings per share of $3.62 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $3.55. DA Davidson currently has a “Buy” rating and a $415.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ current full-year earnings is $3.56 per share.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. OTR Global reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.78.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $397.41 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $260.09 and a 52-week high of $408.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $363.59 and a 200 day moving average of $338.82. The company has a market capitalization of $129.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.82, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks shares are scheduled to split before the market opens on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, December 13th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after acquiring an additional 220,900 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after buying an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Insiders own 2.50% 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.