Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Fortinet has a consensus “Hold” rating from 36 analysts, with 19 holds, 10 buys, 2 strong buys and 5 sells. The average 12-month price target is approximately $150.91.
• Fortinet’s latest quarter exceeded expectations, reporting $0.90 in adjusted EPS versus $0.75 expected and $2.05 billion in revenue versus $1.89 billion expected. Revenue rose 25.6% year over year, supported by demand for AI-driven cybersecurity.
• Shares opened at $156.29, near the analyst consensus target, while the company trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.03. Insiders sold shares under pre-arranged plans to cover tax obligations, while institutional investors own 83.71% of the stock.

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the thirty-six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $150.9091.

Several research firms have weighed in on FTNT. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Fortinet from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Fortinet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. BTIG Research increased their target price on Fortinet from $186.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $175.00 price target on Fortinet and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st.

Fortinet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $156.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $114.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.03, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average of $158.88 and a 200 day moving average of $122.99. 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 has a 1-year low of $73.55 and a 1-year high of $173.89.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fortinet will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet was highlighted as a growth-at-a-reasonable-price (GARP) stock, with analysts pointing to its 2026 growth outlook, rising earnings estimates and expanding AI-security opportunity. Zacks.com featured highlights including Fortinet
• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet was also included among founder-led technology companies with long-term innovation and growth potential, reinforcing the investment case around its leadership and strategic direction. Founder-led companies redefining technology and growth
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Zacks features identify FTNT as a GARP candidate, suggesting analysts view its earnings and revenue prospects as attractive relative to its valuation and peer group. GARP stocks investors can consider
• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet continues to benefit from broader demand for AI-driven cybersecurity. Its latest reported quarter exceeded earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue increasing 25.6% year over year, supporting the bullish outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: ControlMonkey added backup and disaster-recovery support for Fortinet security configurations. The announcement improves recoverability for customers but appears unlikely to materially affect Fortinet’s near-term financial results. ControlMonkey extends recovery to the security stack
• Negative Sentiment: A sharp reaction to Palo Alto Networks’ results despite strong growth highlighted how demanding investor expectations have become for cybersecurity stocks. That sector-wide valuation risk may be limiting upside for Fortinet even amid favorable company-specific commentary. Cybersecurity stocks react to Palo Alto results

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.63, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total value of $26,266,662.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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. 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. 17.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortinet

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTNT. Range Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortinet during the second quarter valued at approximately $420,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 102.5% in the second quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 164 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its position in Fortinet by 426.2% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 198,342 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $30,469,000 after purchasing an additional 160,649 shares during the period. Formuepleje A S purchased a new position in Fortinet during the 2nd quarter valued at $938,000. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Fortinet by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 4,732,986 shares of the software maker's stock worth $727,081,000 after purchasing an additional 889,658 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortinet Company Profile

Fortinet, Inc NASDAQ: FTNT is a multinational cybersecurity company that develops and delivers integrated security solutions for enterprise, service provider and government customers worldwide. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, the company was co‑founded by Ken Xie and Michael Xie. Ken Xie serves as chairman and chief executive officer, and the company operates through a global sales, channel and services organization to support customers across the Americas, EMEA and Asia‑Pacific.

Fortinet's product portfolio centers on network security appliances and software, with its FortiGate next‑generation firewalls and the FortiOS operating system forming a core platform.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source