Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Rating Increased to Hold at Wedbush

Key Points

• Wedbush upgraded Fortinet to “Hold,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold” with an average price target of $150.91, below the reported share price of $156.07.
• Fortinet exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.90 in adjusted earnings per share versus $0.75 expected and $2.05 billion in revenue, up 25.6% year over year. The company issued fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $3.410–$3.470.
• Fortinet executives sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans to cover tax obligations, while institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wedbush to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on FTNT. Susquehanna raised their price target on Fortinet from $115.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Fortinet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $185.00 price target on shares of Fortinet and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortinet presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.91.

Fortinet Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ FTNT opened at $156.07 on Thursday. Fortinet has a 52-week low of $73.55 and a 52-week high of $173.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $114.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $158.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.63.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 191.54%. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortinet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.410-3.470 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.830-0.870 EPS. Analysts expect that Fortinet will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.63, for a total transaction of $507,568.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 9,918,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,613,022,886.80. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total transaction of $26,266,662.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,616,486,029.52. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Fortinet by 15,545.1% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 145,097,777 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $22,289,921,000 after acquiring an additional 144,170,346 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,561,650,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,152,917,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,432,842,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $979,062,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet was named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Hybrid Mesh Firewall and ranked highest for Ability to Execute for the second consecutive year. The recognition supports Fortinet’s competitive position in enterprise cybersecurity, particularly its integrated networking, cloud, AI and security offerings. Fortinet Named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant Report for Hybrid Mesh Firewall
• Positive Sentiment: Recent analysis cited Fortinet’s raised 2026 guidance, demand for AI-security products and expanding margins as fundamental support for the stock. Its latest reported quarter also showed revenue growth of approximately 26% year over year and an earnings beat, reinforcing the company’s growth case. Is FTNT Stock Worth Buying at a Premium P/S or Should Investors Wait?
• Neutral Sentiment: Fortinet recently advanced while the broader market declined, indicating relative strength, but the move does not alter the larger debate over whether the company’s valuation fully reflects its growth prospects. Fortinet Advances While Market Declines
• Negative Sentiment: Wedbush identified CrowdStrike as its leading cybersecurity pick while downgrading Fortinet, along with Check Point, Varonis and Telos. The downgrade likely adds selling pressure by raising concerns about relative upside after Fortinet’s substantial rally and elevated valuation. Wedbush Cybersecurity Downgrades
• Negative Sentiment: Fortinet’s premium price-to-sales valuation remains a concern, particularly with some analyst price targets below the current trading range. Reported insider activity also shows executives selling shares without disclosed open-market purchases during the past six months, which may weigh modestly on sentiment.

Fortinet Company Profile

Fortinet, Inc develops cybersecurity products and services designed to protect enterprise, small and midsize business, service provider, and government networks. Its portfolio covers network security, endpoint protection, cloud security, secure access service edge (SASE), security operations, and zero-trust access.

The company's offerings include FortiGate next-generation firewalls, FortiSwitch secure networking switches, FortiAP wireless access points, FortiClient endpoint security, and FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer management and analytics tools.

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