Bank of Nova Scotia Purchases New Stake in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia acquired 235,841 Fortinet shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $36.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 83.71% of the cybersecurity company.
• Fortinet reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with $0.90 in EPS versus the $0.75 consensus estimate and revenue of $2.05 billion, up 25.6% year over year.
• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating and a $150.91 price target, while FTNT recently traded at $153.51. Company insiders sold approximately $50.7 million in stock during the last quarter, primarily through pre-arranged plans.

Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 235,841 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $36,325,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 2nd quarter valued at $9,561,650,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,660,558 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,493,860,000 after buying an additional 477,397 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the fourth quarter worth about $1,152,917,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,504,597 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,151,810,000 after acquiring an additional 893,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Fortinet by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 11,506,173 shares of the software maker's stock worth $940,284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,598,487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of FTNT stock opened at $153.51 on Monday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $156.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.28. Fortinet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.55 and a twelve month high of $172.09. The company has a market capitalization of $112.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.05, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.07.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion during 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%. Fortinet's quarterly revenue was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. Fortinet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.410-3.470 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.830-0.870 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTNT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Truist Financial set a $183.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Evercore set a $165.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.91.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,907 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.44, for a total transaction of $572,141.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 9,923,610 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,453,213,448.40. The trade was a 0.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,972,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,616,486,029.52. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 329,142 shares of company stock worth $50,731,178 over the last quarter. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fortinet 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.

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