4,275,821 Shares in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT Acquired by Bank of America Corp DE

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 4.28 million Fortinet shares worth approximately $656.9 million in the second quarter, giving it a 0.58% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 83.71% of FTNT.
• Fortinet reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings of $0.90 per share and revenue of $2.05 billion, up 25.6% year over year. Technical momentum has also improved, although the stock’s elevated valuation and competitive pressures remain risks.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating, with an average price target of $150.91 versus the stock’s recent price near $172.37; the CEO and a vice president also sold shares under pre-arranged plans to cover taxes on vested equity awards.

Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,275,821 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $656,852,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.58% of Fortinet at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the second quarter valued at approximately $9,561,650,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 4th quarter valued at $1,152,917,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 2nd quarter worth $1,432,842,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the second quarter valued at $979,062,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 87.4% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,651,024 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $788,682,000 after buying an additional 4,500,194 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Technical momentum improved: Fortinet moved above both its 20-day and 50-day moving averages after finding support, signaling a short-term bullish trend. The stock is also trading near its 52-week high, which may encourage momentum-oriented buying. Fortinet Recently Broke Out Above the 20-Day Moving Average
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are highlighting growth potential: Zacks commentary points to Fortinet’s SASE momentum, artificial-intelligence-driven cybersecurity demand and relatively lower valuation compared with Palo Alto Networks. Another report rated Fortinet among the cybersecurity stocks to consider amid rising AI-safety concerns. PANW vs. FTNT
• Positive Sentiment: Company profile received additional support: Fortinet was named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Hybrid Mesh Firewall, potentially reinforcing customer confidence and competitive positioning. Fortinet Named a Leader by Gartner
• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet expanded its customer reach: The company opened a company-owned Innovation Hub in New York City to provide regional customers and partners with access to experts, demonstrations and executive briefings. The move supports sales engagement, though its near-term financial impact is unclear. Fortinet Opens New York Innovation Hub
• Neutral Sentiment: Fortinet joined Broadcom, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks and Sophos in SE Labs’ new independent PIVOT security-testing program. Results are not expected until early 2027, so the announcement is not an immediate earnings catalyst. Major Cybersecurity Vendors Back SE Labs Testing Model
• Negative Sentiment: Fortinet’s valuation remains a consideration after the rally, with the stock trading at a high earnings multiple. The company also faces competition from cloud-native platforms such as CrowdStrike, while hardware refresh cycles can create volatility when enterprise technology budgets tighten.

Fortinet Price Performance

FTNT stock opened at $172.37 on Wednesday. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $73.55 and a one year high of $174.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $159.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.47 billion, a PE ratio of 60.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.06. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 191.54%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. 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, analysts forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,616,486,029.52. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.63, for a total transaction of $507,568.23. Following the sale, the vice president owned 9,918,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,613,022,886.80. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTNT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a "positive" rating and set a $136.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $163.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortinet has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $150.91.

About Fortinet

Fortinet, Inc develops cybersecurity products and services designed to protect enterprise, small and midsize business, service provider, and government networks. Its portfolio covers network security, endpoint protection, cloud security, secure access service edge (SASE), security operations, and zero-trust access.

The company's offerings include FortiGate next-generation firewalls, FortiSwitch secure networking switches, FortiAP wireless access points, FortiClient endpoint security, and FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer management and analytics tools.

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