Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Updates Q2 Earnings Guidance

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) issued an update on its second quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.29-1.31 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.25. The company issued revenue guidance of $1.955-1.985 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks also updated its FY24 guidance to $5.40-5.53 EPS.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $256.18 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $244.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.55. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $132.22 and a 12-month high of $265.90. The company has a market capitalization of $79.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 203.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.15. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 51.13% and a net margin of 6.38%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.51 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, August 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $250.00 to $281.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $272.14.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.88, for a total transaction of $78,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,519 shares in the company, valued at $7,655,334.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.88, for a total value of $78,936.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,519 shares in the company, valued at $7,655,334.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.75, for a total transaction of $170,696.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at $768,017. 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 ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 926.0% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,333 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,662,000 after buying an additional 12,936 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $121,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.7% during the second quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 241.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 608 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,274,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $325,733,000 after purchasing an additional 116,384 shares during the last quarter. 85.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.