Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Stock Price Target Cut by Scotiabank

Key Points

• Scotiabank cut Fortinet’s price target from $163 to $140 and maintained a “sector perform” rating, implying roughly 19.6% downside from the prior close.
• Analysts’ overall view remains cautious: Fortinet has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $153.08, with several firms recently lowering targets despite the company’s quarterly beat.
• Fortinet reported quarterly EPS of $0.91 versus the $0.86 estimate and revenue of $2.08 billion, up 20.5% year over year; however, the stock was down 5.9% amid concerns about slowing service-revenue growth and high market expectations.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $163.00 to $140.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "sector perform" rating on the software maker's stock. Scotiabank's target price would indicate a potential downside of 19.58% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on FTNT. Daiwa Securities Group upped their price target on shares of Fortinet from $115.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $118.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Evercore set a $165.00 target price on Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $175.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fortinet has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $153.08.

Fortinet Stock Down 5.9%

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $174.08 on Thursday. Fortinet has a 1-year low of $73.55 and a 1-year high of $197.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $171.91 and a 200 day moving average of $127.69. The firm has a market cap of $127.72 billion, a PE ratio of 61.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software maker reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.06 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 191.54%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fortinet will post 3.10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In related news, COO John Whittle sold 53,865 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.44, for a total transaction of $8,911,425.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 96,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,045,529.28. This represents a 35.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 9,918,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,613,022,886.80. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 221,303 shares of company stock valued at $36,164,034 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 17.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Fortinet by 408.3% in the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 305 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Burk Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortinet by 102.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 164 shares of the software maker's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Timbuktu Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet reported adjusted earnings of $0.91 per share on $2.08 billion in revenue, topping consensus estimates of $0.86 and $2.06 billion, respectively. Revenue increased approximately 20% year over year. Fortinet Reports Strong Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Product revenue grew 37% to $765 million, while billings increased 29% to $2.34 billion. Fortinet also raised its 2026 revenue outlook, outlining expected billings of $9.568 billion to $9.718 billion. Fortinet raises guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Management increased its share-repurchase authorization by $1.2 billion, leaving $2 billion available, and reported strong operating cash flow and free cash flow. These actions may support earnings per share and signal management confidence. Fortinet adds to buyback program
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the quarterly beat and higher outlook, analysts broadly reduced their price targets. Rosenblatt retained a buy rating at $175, while Needham reaffirmed its hold rating. Analysts cut Fortinet forecasts
• Negative Sentiment: Investors focused on slowing growth in Fortinet’s service revenue and billings growth that fell short of lofty expectations. The reaction suggests the market was anticipating a stronger outlook despite the reported beat. Why Fortinet stock fell after earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America downgraded Fortinet from buy to neutral with a $140 price target. Citigroup and Stifel also cut their targets to $140, while Barclays reduced its target to $155, implying downside from recent levels.
• Negative Sentiment: The selloff reflects broader pressure on software and cybersecurity stocks, including concerns that artificial intelligence could disrupt established security platforms and intensify competition from Palo Alto Networks. Software stocks slide

About Fortinet

Fortinet, Inc develops cybersecurity products and services designed to protect networks, endpoints, applications, cloud environments and operational technology systems. The company's portfolio includes next-generation firewalls, secure networking products, endpoint security, web application security, email security, identity and access solutions, and security information and event management tools.

Its product offerings include FortiGate network security appliances and cloud-based firewalls, along with FortiSwitch, FortiAP and FortiExtender solutions for secure connectivity.

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