Commerce Bank Purchases 1,625 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Commerce Bank boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,384 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total value of $122,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 41,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,452,332. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.86, for a total value of $24,258,665.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 235,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,298,914.52. This trade represents a 33.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $172.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $115.28 billion, a PE ratio of 98.79, a PEG ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $210.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $196.04 and a 200-day moving average of $187.29.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp cut Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.61.

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.