Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases 113,108 Shares of Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Fortinet, Inc. by 49.7%, acquiring an additional 113,108 shares during the first quarter, bringing their total holdings to 340,677 shares valued at approximately $32.8 million.
• Several other institutional investors made significant changes to their positions in Fortinet, with SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increasing its stake by 703.1% and Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosting theirs by 2,184.6%.
• Fortinet's stock has seen varied analyst ratings, with a consensus price target of $97.40 and most analysts issuing a "Hold" rating amidst price target adjustments from various firms reflecting market conditions.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 49.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 340,677 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 113,108 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Fortinet were worth $32,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FTNT. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortinet by 703.1% in the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 257 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Fortinet by 2,184.6% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 297 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Fortinet by 47.5% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 348 shares of the software maker's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FTNT shares. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Fortinet from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Fortinet from $105.00 to $78.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Fortinet from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $85.00 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Fortinet from $110.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William H. Neukom bought 335 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 301,471 shares in the company, valued at $31,419,307.62. This trade represents a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fortinet Stock Down 0.7%

FTNT opened at $78.77 on Monday. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.12 and a 1-year high of $114.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $94.69 and a 200-day moving average of $99.03.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Fortinet had a return on equity of 111.46% and a net margin of 30.60%.The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. Fortinet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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