Cantor Fitzgerald Brokers Raise Earnings Estimates for PANW

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald increased their FY2025 earnings estimates for Palo Alto Networks in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst now anticipates that the network technology company will post earnings of $1.80 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $1.77. Cantor Fitzgerald has a "Overweight" rating and a $223.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks' current full-year earnings is $1.76 per share.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock traded up $0.78 during trading on Thursday, reaching $187.53. 2,039,982 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,599,138. The company has a market cap of $125.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.57, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $178.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Csenge Advisory Group raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the first quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the first quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Crew Capital Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.