Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Stock Price Target Lowered at TD Cowen

Key Points

• TD Cowen cut Fortinet’s price target from $225 to $190 but maintained a “buy” rating, implying roughly 40.5% upside from the prior close. The broader analyst consensus remains “Hold,” with a target price of $149.61.
• Fortinet shares fell 22.3% to $135.21 amid concerns about the company’s service-revenue outlook, despite strong quarterly results and analyst worries that its valuation had become demanding.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $0.91 versus $0.86 expected and revenue of $2.08 billion versus $2.06 billion, while revenue grew 20.5% year over year and billings increased 29%.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at TD Cowen from $225.00 to $190.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the software maker's stock. TD Cowen's price objective suggests a potential upside of 40.52% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Fortinet from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Fortinet from $163.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $190.00 price target (up from $116.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Fortinet from $115.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Fortinet from $118.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortinet has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $149.61.

Fortinet Trading Down 22.3%

Fortinet stock traded down $38.87 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $135.21. 10,604,838 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,811,956. Fortinet has a fifty-two week low of $73.55 and a fifty-two week high of $197.13. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $171.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.78, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $507,568.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 9,918,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,613,022,886.80. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total value of $26,266,662.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,616,486,029.52. The trade was 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. Insiders sold a total of 221,303 shares of company stock worth $36,164,034 in the last three months. 17.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Puff Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Fortinet by 3.4% in the third quarter. Puff Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the software maker's stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC increased its holdings in Fortinet by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 2,981 shares of the software maker's stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Fortinet by 0.3% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 19,581 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Fortinet by 1.9% during the third quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kintegral Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 12,648 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet exceeded third-quarter expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $0.91 versus the $0.86 consensus and revenue of $2.08 billion versus estimates of $2.06 billion. Revenue increased 20% year over year, while product revenue rose 37% to $765 million. Fortinet Reports Strong Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Billings grew 29% to $2.34 billion, and Fortinet raised its 2026 revenue outlook and outlined 2026 billings of approximately $9.57 billion to $9.72 billion. Management also increased its share-repurchase authorization by $1.2 billion, leaving $2 billion available. Fortinet Outlines 2026 Billings
• Neutral Sentiment: Fortinet highlighted strong demand for AI-infrastructure security and record operating margins, but investors are weighing those opportunities against a broader technology-sector selloff and concerns about AI disruption. Software Stocks Slide
• Negative Sentiment: The main catalyst was a service-revenue forecast that fell short of investor expectations. Analysts interpreted the outlook as evidence that subscription and service growth may be losing momentum, despite the quarterly beat and stronger billings guidance. Fortinet Tumbles as Service Revenue Forecast Is Cut
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple analysts reduced their price targets and several shifted to neutral, hold, or equal-weight ratings. Bank of America downgraded Fortinet to neutral with a $140 target, while Citigroup, Stifel, Scotiabank, and Barclays also cut targets, reinforcing concerns that the stock’s valuation had become demanding after its major prior rally. Analysts Slash Fortinet Forecasts

Fortinet Company Profile

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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