Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Stock Holdings in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp increased its Fortinet stake by 504.7% in the first quarter, ending with 128,125 shares valued at about $10.47 million.
• Fortinet is seeing broader institutional and analyst interest, with several hedge funds adding positions and Barclays raising its price target to $170 despite keeping an equal-weight rating.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while also raising guidance for fiscal 2026; Fortinet shares were trading near their 52-week high.

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 504.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 128,125 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 106,938 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Fortinet were worth $10,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,152,917,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,730,954 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $613,915,000 after purchasing an additional 2,166,396 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Fortinet by 76.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,109,016 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $326,297,000 after buying an additional 1,777,115 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Fortinet by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,816,519 shares of the software maker's stock worth $909,453,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the fourth quarter worth about $100,256,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet announced new capabilities for its FortiEndpoint platform aimed at helping organizations securely adopt AI, protect sensitive data, improve risk visibility, and simplify operations, which reinforces the company’s product momentum. Fortinet Expands FortiEndpoint with New Capabilities for the AI Era
• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet is benefiting from a sector-wide cybersecurity rally, with peers such as Palo Alto Networks and Check Point also moving higher as investors react to IBM’s cybersecurity-related spending warning. PANW, FTNT, CHKP: Palo Alto, Fortinet, Check Point Gain as IBM Stock Plunges — Here’s Why
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays recently raised its price target on Fortinet to $170, signaling continued analyst confidence even though the firm kept an equal-weight rating. Read More
• Neutral Sentiment: Fortinet also appeared in a new “buy recommendation” note, adding to investor attention but without clear details in the headline provided. Fortinet (FTNT): New Buy Recommendation for This Technology Giant
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent trading has also shown Fortinet outperforming the broader market, suggesting momentum was already positive before today’s news flow. Fortinet (FTNT) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on FTNT shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Fortinet from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BTIG Research increased their price target on Fortinet from $150.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $111.00.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,907 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.44, for a total value of $572,141.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 9,923,610 shares in the company, valued at $1,453,213,448.40. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO John Whittle sold 146,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.41, for a total value of $18,749,786.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 94,724 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,163,508.84. The trade was a 60.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 318,387 shares of company stock valued at $43,403,063 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 17.60% of the company's stock.

Fortinet Trading Up 3.9%

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $166.83 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $122.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.09. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $70.12 and a one year high of $167.27.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.20. Fortinet had a return on equity of 160.08% and a net margin of 27.49%.The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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 analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortinet Profile

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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