Baird Financial Group Inc. Buys 4,572 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 516,996 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,572 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks worth $105,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,295,588 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,083,689,000 after buying an additional 377,496 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 332,072 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,955,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 26,003 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,210 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 8,485 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4,777.7% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 377,287 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $77,208,000 after purchasing an additional 369,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total transaction of $26,321,485.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 356,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,675,777.46. This trade represents a 25.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 1,095,056 shares of company stock worth $226,082,942 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $193.63 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $134.96 billion, a PE ratio of 122.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $206.19 and a 200-day moving average of $197.21. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks 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.