DA Davidson Expects Reduced Earnings for Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) – Research analysts at DA Davidson reduced their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report released on Tuesday, December 17th. DA Davidson analyst R. Kessinger now anticipates that the network technology company will post earnings of $1.74 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $1.75. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ current full-year earnings is $3.49 per share.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $188.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.4 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $186.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $122.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $191.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.79. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $130.04 and a 12-month high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 71,274 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $24,163,000 after buying an additional 1,684 shares during the last quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $283,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,744.9% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,450 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,263 shares during the last quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the second quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 5,837 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,979,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 790.5% during the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 187 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 72,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.25, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,231,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 571,172 shares of company stock worth $107,074,352 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.