Palo Alto Networks Company Profile (NYSE:PANW)

Palo Alto Networks trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "PANW."

Palo Alto Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 6th 2017, which authorizes the company to buyback $500,000,000.00 in shares, according to EventVestor. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NYSE:PANW) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May, 31st. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $431.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.11 million. Palo Alto Networks had a negative net margin of 14.38% and a negative return on equity of 23.77%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. View Palo Alto Networks' Earnings History.

Palo Alto Networks is scheduled to release their next quarterly earnings announcement on Thursday, August, 31st 2017. View Earnings Estimates for Palo Alto Networks.

Palo Alto Networks updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday, May, 31st. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $0.78-0.80 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus EPS estimate of $0.74. The company issued revenue guidance of $481-491 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $484.86 million.

42 brokers have issued 1 year price targets for Palo Alto Networks' shares. Their forecasts range from $39.00 to $200.00. On average, they anticipate Palo Alto Networks' stock price to reach $152.05 in the next twelve months. View Analyst Ratings for Palo Alto Networks.

Here are some recent quotes from research analysts about Palo Alto Networks stock:

• 1. According to Zacks Investment Research, "Palo Alto Networks allows firms, service providers and government bodies to impose tighter security measures through its network security platform. Revenue growth seems to be steady, aided by strength across all its geographical regions and business segments. Also, customer wins coupled with expansion of the existing customer base are the other positives. We believe that the company’s product refreshes and acquisitions synergies will boost revenues, going forward. The stock has however underperformed the broader market over the last one-year. Moreover, a volatile spending environment and competition from Cisco Systems, Inc. and Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. remain concerns." (5/23/2017)
• 2. Argus analysts commented, "We are lowering our rating on Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) to HOLD from BUY following the company's disappointing fiscal 2Q results. Management attributed the weak performance to poor marketing execution, and if this is indeed the cause, we believe that it will take at least a few quarters to resolve. On the other hand, if the weakness reflects increased competition, we would expect the company's growth issues to persist. In either case, we believe that a HOLD rating is warranted until management demonstrates that its turnaround efforts are gaining traction."While we avoid playing M&A roulette, we note that the company could become an acquisition target for a larger tech player, much the way that McAfee was acquired by Intel and SourceFire by Cisco, especially as the stock's valuation has come down." (3/3/2017)
• 3. Imperial Capital analysts commented, "We are downgrading our rating to In-Line from Outperform on PANW shares and lowering our one-year price target to $137 from $180 based on our lower outlook. Our price target implies potential downside of 10% below recent levels. We think investors could remain on the sidelines over the next few quarters due to likely disruption from changes to the sales organization, following lower-than-expected F2Q17 results, and may not become more constructive on the stock until management demonstrates consistent execution and improved growth acceleration. While software-as-a-service (SaaS) based subscription growth remains strong (up 59% year-over-year [yoy] in F2Q17), we estimate product sales will continue to decline through the second half of FY17 because of lower productivity. We look for potential upside to our estimates from the refresh of older appliances (4-6 year cycles) from the company's successively larger customer cohorts (i.e., greater renewal opportunity) and ramping adoption of the company's unattached subscription services (up over 100% yoy in F2Q17)."While we believe PANW remains a top-tier vendor in the cybersecurity sector, we see limited near-term appreciation potential to PANW shares and await tangible progress on management's internal changes over the coming quarters." (3/1/2017)
• 4. Stifel Nicolaus analysts commented, "Following the market close on Tuesday, February 28, Palo Alto Networks reported F2Q17 results that largely underperformed Street expectations, with management citing sales execution issues as the primary driver of the company's underwhelming print. The company also announced that it has both acquired LightCyber, a behavorial analytics company, for $105mn in cash as well as increased its total share repurchase authorization by $500mn to $1bn. The repurchase authorization expires on December 31, 2018, and as of January 31, 2017, $330mn of the initial $500mn authorization remained available. We reiterate our Buy rating but are lowering our target price to $170 on common shares of Palo Alto Networks." (3/1/2017)
• 5. Jefferies Group LLC analysts commented, "Palo Alto Networks reported a second consecutive quarter that missed projections and management reduced forecasts significantly, blaming the weakness on sales execution, but it's unclear if something more could be happening here. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.63 on total revenue of $423M, including $169M Product and $254M Services compared to Street estimates of $0.62, $430M, $178M, and $252M, respectively. OCF of $214M was in line with Street estimates of $212M. F3Q guidance of $406-416M in revenue and non-GAAP EPS of $0.54-0.56 were below Street estimates of $455M and $0.70, respectively. Annual revenue guidance was also reduced to 25% growth along with flat product growth, from the prior 30-31% and 12-13% growth, respectively." (3/1/2017)

Some companies that are related to Palo Alto Networks include CGI Group (GIB), Total System Services (TSS), Gartner (IT), VeriSign (VRSN), CDW Corp (CDW), Amdocs Limited (DOX), Akamai Technologies (AKAM), Jack Henry & Associates (JKHY), F5 Networks (FFIV), Fortinet (FTNT), LogMein (LOGM), CSRA (CSRA), Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (BAH), GoDaddy (GDDY), Aspen Technology (AZPN), NCR Corporation (NCR), EPAM Systems (EPAM) and Medidata Solutions (MDSO).

Palo Alto Networks' management team includes the folowing people:

• Mark D. McLaughlin, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer
• Mark F. Anderson, President
• Steffan C. Tomlinson, Chief Financial Officer
• Nir Zuk, Chief Technology Officer, Director
• Rene Bonvanie, Chief Marketing Officer
• Daniel J. Warmenhoven, Lead Independent Director
• Frank A. Calderoni, Independent Director
• Asheem Chandna, Independent Director
• John M. Donovan, Independent Director
• Carl M. Eschenbach, Independent Director

Palo Alto Networks' stock is owned by many different of retail and institutional investors. Top institutional shareholders include Vanguard Group Inc. (7.91%), Renaissance Technologies LLC (2.34%), American Century Companies Inc. (1.90%), CI Global Investments Inc. (1.76%), Harbour Capital Advisors LLC (1.28%) and Northern Trust Corp (1.24%). Company insiders that own Palo Alto Networks stock include Asheem Chandna, Carl M Eschenbach, Daniel J Warmenhoven, James J Goetz, Mark Anderson, Mark D Mclaughlin, Nir Zuk, Rene Bonvanie and Steffan Tomlinson. View Institutional Ownership Trends for Palo Alto Networks.

Palo Alto Networks' stock was sold by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Lazard Asset Management LLC, Jennison Associates LLC, Ameriprise Financial Inc., Wells Fargo & Company MN, Alliancebernstein L.P., TIAA CREF Investment Management LLC, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC and Capital Research Global Investors. Company insiders that have sold Palo Alto Networks stock in the last year include Carl M Eschenbach, Daniel J Warmenhoven, James J Goetz, Mark Anderson, Mark D Mclaughlin, Nir Zuk, Rene Bonvanie and Steffan Tomlinson. View Insider Buying and Selling for Palo Alto Networks.

Palo Alto Networks' stock was purchased by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including American Century Companies Inc., Harbour Capital Advisors LLC, Northern Trust Corp, ETF Managers Group LLC, Sirios Capital Management L P, Vanguard Group Inc., Marshall Wace North America L.P. and Balyasny Asset Management LLC. View Insider Buying and Selling for Palo Alto Networks.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages include Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Scottrade, Fidelity and Charles Schwab.

One share of Palo Alto Networks stock can currently be purchased for approximately $132.93.