Robert W. Baird Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock

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

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on PANW. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. OTR Global reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Northland Securities upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $390.39.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $386.83 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $249.56 and a 1-year high of $408.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $360.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $337.38. The firm has a market cap of $125.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.36, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. The trade was a 9.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.