Comerica Bank Reduces Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Comerica Bank lessened its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 198,502 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 12,295 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $36,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $136,859,000 after purchasing an additional 384,985 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $277,828,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the period. Finally, Generali Investments Management Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 54,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,077,000 after purchasing an additional 15,091 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $178.54 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.64, a P/E/G ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $161.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.84. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Benchmark initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho set a $200.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. New Street Research decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.