Security National Bank Acquires 1,357 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Security National Bank grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,512 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,357 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 2.5% of Security National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Security National Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% in the first quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 1,556 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Snider Financial Group raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 17,729 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,025,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grimes & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 1,310 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $204.30 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $136.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $189.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The company’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total transaction of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 42,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 795,536 shares of company stock valued at $141,007,618. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

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.