Robert W. Baird Issues Positive Forecast for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price hoisted by Robert W. Baird from $385.00 to $425.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $390.39.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $386.83 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $360.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $337.38. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $249.56 and a 1 year high of $408.53. The company has a market cap of $125.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.36, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. The trade was a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 24.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after acquiring an additional 220,900 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after buying an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.