57,265 Shares in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Acquired by Berger Financial Group Inc

Key Points

• Berger Financial Group Inc invested approximately $5.51 million to purchase 57,265 shares of Fortinet, Inc. during the first quarter of 2023.
• Fortinet's stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $97.93, following several analysts adjusting their ratings and price targets.
• Institutional investors own 83.71% of Fortinet's stock, indicating strong interest and backing from larger investment firms.

Berger Financial Group Inc purchased a new stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 57,265 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $5,512,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FTNT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Fortinet by 5.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,546,934 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Fortinet by 11,349.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,927,607 shares of the software maker's stock worth $185,551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910,771 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Fortinet by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,470,320 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $611,316,000 after acquiring an additional 951,233 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 127.6% in the first quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,496,339 shares of the software maker's stock worth $144,038,000 after acquiring an additional 839,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 57.2% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,211,113 shares of the software maker's stock worth $212,842,000 after acquiring an additional 804,373 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Fortinet from $105.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Fortinet from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Fortinet from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $85.00 target price (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.93.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In related news, Director William H. Neukom acquired 335 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $104.22 per share, with a total value of $34,913.70. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 301,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,419,307.62. The trade was a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total value of $46,935,174.08. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 9,730,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $958,265,548.80. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.20% of the company's stock.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Fortinet stock traded down $0.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $74.39. The company had a trading volume of 17,001,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,194,551. The firm has a market cap of $56.94 billion, a PE ratio of 29.64, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $67.97 and a one year high of $114.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $101.76 and a 200 day moving average of $101.62.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. Fortinet had a return on equity of 111.46% and a net margin of 30.60%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortinet Profile

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.