Robert W. Baird Boosts Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $435.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $425.00 to $435.00 in a report issued on Thursday. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price suggests a potential upside of 13.47% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on PANW. OTR Global reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $445.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $387.00 to $449.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a PE ratio of 52.88, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $260.09 and a 12 month high of $408.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $364.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $339.39.

Palo Alto Networks’s stock is set to split before the market opens on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. This trade represents a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at $10,983,359.33. This trade represents a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.7% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,606 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 64,737 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $22,127,000 after purchasing an additional 5,133 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,827,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.1% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,152 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtue Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% during the third quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 1,690 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $578,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.