Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 5.6% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shot up 5.6% on Thursday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $340.00 to $360.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $344.19 and last traded at $343.51. 2,045,618 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 4,818,777 shares. The stock had previously closed at $325.26.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. DA Davidson began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, June 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,292,166.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at $373,434,232.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at $6,292,166.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,182 shares of company stock worth $74,850,597. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,499 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $820,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,312,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $3,394,000. Teza Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 4,666 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,037,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $109.77 billion, a PE ratio of 49.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $307.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $307.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.