Commerce Bank Has $7.15 Million Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,168 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,394 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. Argus boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.29.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $338.99 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $314.98 and its 200-day moving average is $309.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.17 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $109.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total value of $42,165,110.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 428,391 shares of company stock worth $136,147,317 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.