Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI cut its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW – Free Report) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 245,505 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,515 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 2.8% of Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI owned about 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks worth $83,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,563,020,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $771,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $177,933,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Daiwa America upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $360.20.
Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks
In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total value of $12,209,760.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,223,567 shares in the company, valued at $414,984,983.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total transaction of $12,209,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,223,567 shares in the company, valued at $414,984,983.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 367,315 shares of company stock worth $118,696,590. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 7.2 %
NASDAQ PANW traded up $24.65 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $368.01. 12,843,340 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,441,305. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.16 billion, a PE ratio of 53.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $328.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $310.84. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.64 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84.
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal 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.
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