Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Updates Q4 2024 Earnings Guidance

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) updated its fourth quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.400-1.420 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 1.410. The company issued revenue guidance of $2.2 billion-$2.2 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $2.0 billion. Palo Alto Networks also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 5.560-5.580 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a buy rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Redburn Atlantic increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Capital One Financial lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $302.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush restated an outperform rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $317.20.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $311.15 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $188.83 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $100.53 billion, a PE ratio of 45.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $288.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $299.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 37.81%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 280,193 shares of company stock valued at $80,670,132. Company insiders own 3.30% 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.