Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT Stake Reduced by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Sterling Capital Management cut its Fortinet stake by 42.4% in the first quarter, selling 11,310 shares and leaving it with 15,344 shares valued at about $1.25 million.
• Insider selling was notable: CEO Ken Xie sold 160,632 shares and VP Michael Xie sold 3,907 shares in early June, with insiders selling 318,387 shares total over the last 90 days.
• Fortinet recently reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.82 and revenue of $1.85 billion, both topping estimates, while analysts currently rate the stock a Hold with a consensus price target of $107.58.

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 42.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,344 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 11,310 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Fortinet were worth $1,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,152,917,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,730,954 shares of the software maker's stock worth $613,915,000 after buying an additional 2,166,396 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 30.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,575,662 shares of the software maker's stock worth $636,962,000 after buying an additional 1,790,033 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Fortinet by 76.2% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,109,016 shares of the software maker's stock worth $326,297,000 after buying an additional 1,777,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 17.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,816,519 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $909,453,000 after buying an additional 1,568,337 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 160,632 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.58, for a total transaction of $23,384,806.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,711,717,915.76. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 3,907 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president owned 9,923,610 shares in the company, valued at $1,453,213,448.40. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 318,387 shares of company stock worth $43,403,063. Corporate insiders own 17.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 price objective on Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Arete Research set a $104.00 target price on Fortinet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup upped their target price on Fortinet from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho increased their price target on Fortinet from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Compass Point set a $100.00 price target on Fortinet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fortinet presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.58.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of FTNT opened at $155.42 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.87 billion, a PE ratio of 60.01, a PEG ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.11. 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 company's 50 day moving average price is $124.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.20. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.12 and a 52 week high of $159.07.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 160.08%. The company's revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $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. Research analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.78 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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