Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Shares Bought by Forsta AP Fonden

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in Fortinet, Inc. by 41.8%, acquiring an additional 56,800 shares to reach a total of 192,800 shares, valued at $18.6 million.
• Despite a significant increase in holdings from institutional investors, Fortinet's stock has seen a price target decrease from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.93.
• VP and CEO of Fortinet, Michael Xie and Ken Xie, respectively, both sold a substantial number of shares on the same day, indicating a decrease in their ownership percentages by 4.67% and 0.31%.

Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 41.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 192,800 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 56,800 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Fortinet were worth $18,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 16.6% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 752 shares of the software maker's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 0.9% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 12,334 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Fortinet by 0.4% during the first quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 26,285 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,530,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Fortinet by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 412 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on FTNT shares. Wedbush reduced their price target on Fortinet from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Fortinet from an "overweight" rating to a "reduce" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $110.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Fortinet from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Fortinet from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.93.

Fortinet Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:FTNT traded down $0.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $74.39. 17,001,530 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,194,551. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $101.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.62. The firm has a market cap of $56.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.64, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.33. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.97 and a 52-week high of $114.82.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Fortinet had a net margin of 30.60% and a return on equity of 111.46%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total value of $46,935,174.08. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 9,730,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $958,265,548.80. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total value of $15,607,701.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,391,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,061,072,243.92. The trade was a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 17.20% of the company's stock.

Fortinet 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.