Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $5.40-5.53 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $5.34. The company issued revenue guidance of $8.15-8.20 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $8.18 billion. Palo Alto Networks also updated its Q2 guidance to $1.29-1.31 EPS.
Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance
NASDAQ:PANW opened at $242.30 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $244.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.61. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $132.22 and a fifty-two week high of $265.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.31 billion, a PE ratio of 137.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.13.
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 57.76%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. DZ Bank assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, October 18th. They set a buy rating and a $310.00 price target for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $280.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $273.26.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Palo Alto Networks
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.48, for a total value of $10,956,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 185,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,096,635.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.75, for a total transaction of $170,696.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,017. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.48, for a total value of $10,956,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 185,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,096,635.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 176,890 shares of company stock valued at $42,637,820 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $751,276,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,376,601 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $673,731,000 after acquiring an additional 92,760 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $204,728,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.0% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,274,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $325,733,000 after acquiring an additional 116,384 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 861,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $536,041,000 after purchasing an additional 8,994 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.69% of the company’s stock.
Palo Alto Networks Company Profile
(Get Free Report)
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.
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