Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT Holdings Lifted by Generali Asset Management SPA SGR

Key Points

• Generali Asset Management nearly doubled its Fortinet stake in Q4, boosting holdings by 95.6% to 47,993 shares worth about $3.8 million. Institutional ownership of Fortinet remains high at 83.71%.
• Fortinet reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $0.82 and revenue of $1.85 billion, both ahead of expectations. Revenue rose 20.1% year over year, and the company raised its full-year guidance.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but improving, as several firms raised price targets and BTIG upgraded the stock to Buy. However, the overall consensus remains Hold with an average target price of $100.45, below the recent share price.

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR grew its holdings in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 95.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,993 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 23,451 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR's holdings in Fortinet were worth $3,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FTNT. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fortinet in the third quarter worth $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of Fortinet stock opened at $114.07 on Friday. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.12 and a 52 week high of $114.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $83.51 billion, a PE ratio of 44.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.92. The company's 50-day moving average price is $82.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.98.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 160.08%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. Fortinet has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.720-0.760 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.160 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 2,478 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.89, for a total transaction of $220,269.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 9,927,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $882,456,986.13. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 5,355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total value of $476,059.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,978,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,709,744,555.60. This represents a 0.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Company insiders own 17.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens set a $115.00 target price on shares of Fortinet and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Fortinet from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $125.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $100.45.

Key Fortinet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet delivered a strong Q1 beat, with revenue up 20% year over year, EPS ahead of estimates, billings up sharply, and full-year guidance raised, signaling stronger demand across cybersecurity and AI-related security products.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts turned more constructive, including BTIG’s upgrade to Buy, Rosenblatt’s Buy rating with a higher target, and Citi/Susquehanna/UBS/Piper all raising price targets to around the current share price or above, supporting bullish sentiment.
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary around Fortinet’s gains suggests the results helped dispel “AI disruption” fears and highlighted growing demand tied to a more complex threat environment, which is improving investor confidence in the company’s growth runway.
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup and Susquehanna raised their price target to $115 while maintaining Neutral ratings, implying limited upside from current levels even after the rally.
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital and Needham kept Hold-type views, indicating that not all analysts see the valuation as compelling despite the improved fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: There were also insider sales by the CEO and a VP, which may temper enthusiasm somewhat, though these trades appear small relative to the stock’s recent move.

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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