Commerce Bank Has $8.51 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Commerce Bank boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 81.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,759 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 20,980 shares during the period. Commerce Bank's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,508,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $970,736,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,048,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,775,171 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $868,890,000 after buying an additional 2,220,130 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $167.69 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.60 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $180.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.86. The stock has a market cap of $111.03 billion, a PE ratio of 94.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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