Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 50,795 Shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 197,223 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 50,795 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Fortinet were worth $18,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Oarsman Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortinet by 188.9% in the 4th quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 416 shares of the software maker's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in shares of Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortinet Stock Performance

NASDAQ FTNT opened at $107.33 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $98.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.57 and a 1 year high of $114.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.08 billion, a PE ratio of 47.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.16.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. Fortinet had a return on equity of 256.53% and a net margin of 29.30%. Analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Keith Jensen sold 17,660 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.18, for a total value of $1,928,118.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $517,076.48. This trade represents a 78.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William H. Neukom purchased 328 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $106.33 per share, with a total value of $34,876.24. Following the purchase, the director now owns 300,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,899,637.98. This represents a 0.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 738,978 shares of company stock worth $74,135,907. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTNT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Roth Capital set a $103.00 price target on Fortinet and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Fortinet from $114.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Fortinet from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.07.

Fortinet Profile

Fortinet, Inc provides cybersecurity and convergence of networking and security solutions worldwide. It offers secure networking solutions focus on the convergence of networking and security; network firewall solutions that consist of FortiGate data centers, hyperscale, and distributed firewalls, as well as encrypted applications; wireless LAN solutions; and secure connectivity solutions, including FortiSwitch secure ethernet switches, FortiAP wireless local area network access points, FortiExtender 5G connectivity gateways, and other products.

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