Commerce Bank Makes New Investment in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• Commerce Bank acquired 27,978 Fortinet shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $4.3 million. Several other institutional investors also initiated positions, with institutions and hedge funds now owning 83.71% of the stock.
• Fortinet exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.90 in earnings per share versus the $0.75 consensus estimate and $2.05 billion in revenue, up 25.6% year over year. The company issued fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $3.41 to $3.47.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with Fortinet carrying a consensus “Hold” rating and a $150.91 target price. Executives sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, including CEO Ken Xie’s $26.3 million sale partly to cover tax obligations.

Commerce Bank purchased a new stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 27,978 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $4,298,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pinnbrook Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,979,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Fortinet during the second quarter worth approximately $8,543,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Fortinet during the second quarter worth approximately $5,234,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,103,000. Finally, Madison Wealth Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 2nd quarter valued at $298,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,907 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.44, for a total transaction of $572,141.08. Following the transaction, the vice president directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total value of $26,266,662.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares in the company, valued at $8,616,486,029.52. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 329,142 shares of company stock worth $50,731,178. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fortinet Price Performance

Fortinet stock opened at $151.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $156.29 and a 200-day moving average of $118.38. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.55 and a 52-week high of $172.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.52, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.07.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 191.54%. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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, analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on FTNT shares. Evercore set a $165.00 price objective on Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Fortinet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings lowered Fortinet from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Fortinet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortinet currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.91.

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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