ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Takes $4.90 Million Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. has taken a new $4.90 million position in Fortinet, Inc., acquiring approximately 50,933 shares of the cybersecurity software maker.
• Institutional investors own 83.71% of Fortinet's stock, with significant increases in holdings from firms like Vanguard, Northern Trust, and Goldman Sachs.
• After a recent sale of shares by CEO Ken Xie, he still holds 51,391,879 shares valued at over $5 billion, reflecting a 0.31% decrease in his ownership position.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 50,933 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $4,903,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortinet by 5.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,662,404 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $6,898,223,000 after buying an additional 3,546,934 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Fortinet by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,470,320 shares of the software maker's stock worth $611,316,000 after purchasing an additional 951,233 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Fortinet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,990,190 shares of the software maker's stock worth $565,953,000 after buying an additional 202,259 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fortinet by 8.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,106,259 shares of the software maker's stock worth $491,528,000 after buying an additional 389,718 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fortinet by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,237,978 shares of the software maker's stock worth $400,404,000 after buying an additional 214,879 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortinet news, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total value of $15,607,701.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,391,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,061,072,243.92. The trade was a 0.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total transaction of $46,935,174.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 9,730,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $958,265,548.80. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fortinet Trading Down 22.0%

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $75.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.97 and a 12 month high of $114.82. The company has a market cap of $57.64 billion, a PE ratio of 30.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.75.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Fortinet had a net margin of 30.60% and a return on equity of 123.05%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on FTNT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Roth Capital set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $105.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $125.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-four have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.97.

About Fortinet

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FTNT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.