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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target hoisted by Robert W. Baird from $425.00 to $435.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target indicates a potential upside of 14.28% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on PANW. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank boosted their price target 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. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $414.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $370.00 price target (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $17.05 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $380.65. 4,716,040 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,863,382. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $260.09 and a twelve month high of $408.53. The company has a market cap of $123.94 billion, a PE ratio of 52.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $363.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $338.82.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are set to split on the morning of Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. 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 Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tradewinds LLC. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors lifted 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 worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted 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 worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted 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 worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% 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.