E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 10,608 Shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Key Points

• E Fund Management Co. Ltd. has increased its stake in Fortinet, Inc. by 47.8%, owning 32,779 shares worth approximately $3.16 million after acquiring an additional 10,608 shares.
• Fortinet's stock has seen significant trading activity, with institutional investors holding 83.71% of the company's shares.
• Recent analysts' ratings for Fortinet show a mixed outlook, with some firms cutting target prices while others have upgraded their ratings, resulting in an average recommendation of "Hold" and a target price of around $97.93.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 47.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,779 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 10,608 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Fortinet were worth $3,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Fortinet by 2,184.6% during 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 increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 47.5% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 348 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In related news, Director William H. Neukom acquired 335 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $104.22 per share, for a total transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total value of $15,607,701.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,391,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,061,072,243.92. This represents a 0.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 17.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on FTNT shares. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Fortinet from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Erste Group Bank cut Fortinet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $85.00 price target (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Fortinet in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Fortinet from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-six have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.93.

Fortinet Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Fortinet stock traded up $1.86 on Friday, reaching $79.11. 10,860,686 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,724,086. Fortinet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.12 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $60.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $99.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.90.

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. Fortinet had a return on equity of 111.46% and a net margin of 30.60%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Fortinet Company 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.