Cantor Fitzgerald Brokers Raise Earnings Estimates for PANW

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) – Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald upped their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report issued on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst now forecasts that the network technology company will earn $1.76 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $1.74. 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 $1.74 per share.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on PANW. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.77.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $201.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.57, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $186.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.28. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $130.04 and a 52 week high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.32). Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tradewinds LLC. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% in the third quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 10,945 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. Company 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.