14,613 Shares in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT Bought by VCI Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• VCI Wealth Management bought 14,613 Fortinet shares worth approximately $2.6 million in the third quarter, while other institutional investors also increased positions. Hedge funds and institutions own 83.71% of FTNT.
• Fortinet exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.91 in adjusted EPS versus a $0.86 consensus and $2.08 billion in revenue, up 20.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Fortinet has a consensus “Hold” rating with an average $147.94 price target, while several firms recently lowered their targets or ratings. The COO also sold 53,865 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan.

VCI Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,613 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,612,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Birinyi Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,338,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $492,000. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 83.8% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. now owns 22,326 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $3,991,000 after buying an additional 10,180 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 21.4% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 75,491 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $6,169,000 after buying an additional 13,294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 35.5% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 32,402 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $5,792,000 after buying an additional 8,488 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortinet Stock Performance

NASDAQ FTNT opened at $126.21 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $170.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.52. The company has a market capitalization of $92.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.98, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.03. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.55 and a 1-year high of $197.13. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software maker reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Fortinet had a return on equity of 182.65% and a net margin of 28.96%. Fortinet's quarterly revenue was up 20.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortinet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet’s channel ecosystem received a boost after Excite Cyber achieved Advanced Partner status, indicating deeper engagement with Fortinet’s cybersecurity platform and potential support for enterprise distribution. Excite Cyber Gains Fortinet Advanced Partner Status
• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet remains positioned to benefit from strong cybersecurity demand driven by digital transformation and cloud migration. Zacks included FTNT among security stocks viewed favorably amid the industry’s longer-term growth trend. 3 Security Stocks to Buy Now Amid the Flourishing Industry Trend
• Positive Sentiment: Recent operating momentum remains constructive: third-quarter billings grew 29% year over year to $2.34 billion, while deals worth more than $1 million increased 51%, supporting the company’s growth outlook. Fortinet: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: A review of international revenue trends highlights overseas performance as an important factor in analysts’ forecasts and Fortinet’s future growth, but the article does not indicate a material change to the current outlook. Fortinet International Revenue Trends
• Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush maintained a Hold rating, signaling limited conviction for near-term outperformance despite Fortinet’s solid fundamentals. Wedbush Reaffirms Hold Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Fortinet declined alongside CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks in a broader cybersecurity-sector selloff, suggesting industry-wide risk reduction rather than a company-specific operational development. Cybersecurity Stocks Sell Off
• Negative Sentiment: Susquehanna reduced its price target for FTNT, and separate coverage reported a more pessimistic Wells Fargo forecast. These revisions can weigh on valuation expectations. Susquehanna Cuts Fortinet Price Target Wells Fargo Forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Fortinet’s reported consensus price target was lowered by 10.56%, reinforcing the recent shift toward more conservative analyst expectations. Fortinet Consensus Price Target Cut
• Negative Sentiment: A law firm announced an investigation opportunity for FTNT investors, creating a potential legal and reputational overhang, although the announcement itself does not establish wrongdoing. FTNT Fraud Investigation

Insider Activity

In related news, COO John Whittle sold 53,865 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.44, for a total value of $8,911,425.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 96,987 shares in the company, valued at $16,045,529.28. The trade was a 35.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 17.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTNT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Fortinet from $225.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $140.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 price target on shares of Fortinet and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Fortinet from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $140.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortinet has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $147.94.

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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