Central Bank & Trust Co. Raises Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 89.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,895,983.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $99,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,895,983.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 258,182 shares of company stock valued at $74,850,597. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Argus raised their price target on shares of 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. raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.17.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $320.33 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $301.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $306.17. The company has a market cap of $103.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.10. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $201.17 and a 52 week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current 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.