Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group increased its Fortinet stake by 15.3% in Q4, adding 21,429 shares to hold 161,241 shares worth about $12.8 million.
• Co‑founders made large insider sales on Feb 2: VP Michael Xie sold 343,106 shares (~$27.94M) and CEO Ken Xie sold 175,737 shares (~$14.31M); company insiders still own 17.2% of the stock.
• Fortinet beat Q earnings and revenue expectations — $0.81 EPS vs $0.74 and $1.91B revenue (up 14.8% YoY) — and set FY2026 EPS guidance of 2.94–3.00, while analysts' consensus rating remains Hold with an average target of $87.68.

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 15.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,241 shares of the software maker's stock after acquiring an additional 21,429 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Fortinet were worth $12,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FTNT. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Fortinet by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,327 shares of the software maker's stock worth $976,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the fourth quarter worth about $585,000. HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Fortinet by 29.1% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,299 shares of the software maker's stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the second quarter worth about $1,136,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Fortinet by 27.4% during the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 144,989 shares of the software maker's stock worth $15,328,000 after acquiring an additional 31,202 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 343,106 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total transaction of $27,935,690.52. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 10,210,282 shares in the company, valued at $831,321,160.44. This trade represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 175,737 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total transaction of $14,308,506.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,396,385 shares in the company, valued at $4,184,693,666.70. This represents a 0.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 17.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fortinet Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $81.84 on Friday. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.12 and a 1 year high of $109.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $60.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $81.73 and a 200-day moving average of $81.77.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.26% and a return on equity of 124.21%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. Fortinet has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.590-0.630 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.940-3.000 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FTNT shares. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Fortinet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Evercore set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price objective (up from $85.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortinet presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $87.68.

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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