Bessemer Group Inc. Has $249.48 Million Position in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. slightly reduced its Fortinet stake in the fourth quarter, selling 97,159 shares and ending with 3.14 million shares worth about $249.5 million.
• Fortinet reported strong first-quarter results, beating earnings and revenue estimates with EPS of $0.82 on $1.85 billion in revenue, while also raising guidance for fiscal 2026.
• The stock has been buoyed by AI and cybersecurity demand, including a partnership announcement with NVIDIA, even as analyst sentiment remains mixed with an overall Hold rating.

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,141,632 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 97,159 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 0.42% of Fortinet worth $249,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FTNT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fortinet by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,581,275 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $6,354,874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,894,355 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Fortinet by 62.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,564,558 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $467,868,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132,109 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Fortinet by 30.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,575,662 shares of the software maker's stock worth $636,962,000 after buying an additional 1,790,033 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Fortinet by 17.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,816,519 shares of the software maker's stock worth $909,453,000 after buying an additional 1,568,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Fortinet by 23.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,160,348 shares of the software maker's stock worth $430,082,000 after buying an additional 969,899 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 5,355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total value of $476,059.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,978,004 shares in the company, valued at $4,709,744,555.60. This represents a 0.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 2,478 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.89, for a total transaction of $220,269.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 9,927,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $882,456,986.13. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Corporate insiders own 17.60% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet is getting a boost from the market’s reaction to its strong first-quarter results, with articles highlighting that the company beat expectations and is benefiting from AI-related cybersecurity demand. Fortinet Stock's Momentum Score Skyrockets As AI-Driven Q1 Beat Ignites Rally
• Positive Sentiment: NVIDIA announced a secure enterprise AI initiative with Fortinet, including the FortiAIGate security gateway, which could strengthen Fortinet’s positioning in AI security and support the stock. NVIDIA Targets Secure Enterprise AI Scale With Fortinet And Red Hat Partnerships
• Positive Sentiment: Broader market strength in technology shares and resilient economic data also helped sentiment toward Fortinet and other software/cybersecurity names. Stocks Settle Higher on Strong Tech Earnings and Economic Resilience
• Neutral Sentiment: Fortinet’s COO John Whittle appeared in a fireside chat, but the event appears informational rather than a major new business catalyst. REPLAY: Fireside Chat with Fortinet COO John Whittle
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary has also focused on Fortinet’s long-term stock performance and valuation, reinforcing investor interest but not adding a fresh fundamental trigger. $100 Invested In Fortinet 10 Years Ago Would Be Worth This Much Today

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of FTNT stock opened at $121.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.71 and a 200-day moving average of $83.10. The company has a market cap of $89.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $70.12 and a one year high of $121.97.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 160.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. Fortinet has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.720-0.760 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.160 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on FTNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "underweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up from $64.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $125.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Fortinet from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $100.45.

About Fortinet

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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