Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT Stock Acquired by Absolute Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Absolute Capital Management increased its Fortinet stake by 626% in the third quarter, holding 13,735 shares valued at approximately $2.46 million. Institutional investors collectively own 83.71% of the company.
• Fortinet reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with revenue rising 25.6% year over year to $2.05 billion and EPS of $0.90 versus the $0.75 consensus estimate.
• Despite solid growth, investor concerns remain over Fortinet’s premium valuation and a potentially smaller firewall-refresh opportunity. Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to “underweight,” while analysts maintain a consensus “hold” rating and a $159.09 price target.

Absolute Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 626.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,735 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 11,843 shares during the period. Absolute Capital Management LLC's holdings in Fortinet were worth $2,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dynamic Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortinet by 4.8% in the third quarter. Dynamic Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 1.9% during the third quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the software maker's stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 12,648 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Avail Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Fortinet by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Avail Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,427 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter valued at $398,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 expanded its partnership with Atos to provide a unified cybersecurity framework for hybrid- and multi-cloud environments. The agreement could strengthen Fortinet’s enterprise reach and support demand for its security products and services. Fortinet Expands Global Cybersecurity Framework For Hybrid And Multi Cloud Security
• Positive Sentiment: Growth-oriented analysis remains supportive, citing Fortinet’s above-average financial growth and its potential to outperform the broader market. Its latest reported quarter also showed strong earnings and revenue growth, providing a fundamental counterpoint to the current selling pressure. 3 Reasons Why Growth Investors Shouldn't Overlook Fortinet
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its Fortinet price target from $135 to $160 but retained an “underweight” rating. The higher target is constructive, although it still implies limited upside relative to the stock’s recent trading level. Wells Fargo Lifts Target for Fortinet Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley downgraded FTNT to “underweight” from “equal weight,” warning that a smaller-than-expected firewall refresh opportunity could reduce future revenue estimates. This concern overshadowed the company’s continued customer expansion and has become the clearest company-specific catalyst behind the decline. Fortinet Falls as Analyst Downgrade Revives Firewall Refresh Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Fortinet’s premium valuation makes the stock vulnerable when growth expectations weaken. Broader weakness in technology and AI-related stocks, along with reports of net insider selling, added to investor caution ahead of the company’s October 28 earnings report.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.63, for a total value of $507,568.23. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 9,918,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,613,022,886.80. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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, COO John Whittle sold 53,865 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.44, for a total transaction of $8,911,425.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 96,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,045,529.28. This represents a 35.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 221,303 shares of company stock valued at $36,164,034. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fortinet Stock Performance

NASDAQ FTNT opened at $169.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock's fifty day moving average is $169.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.03. Fortinet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.55 and a fifty-two week high of $197.13.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.15. Fortinet had a return on equity of 191.54% and a net margin of 28.17%. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. Fortinet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.410-3.470 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.830-0.870 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTNT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial set a $183.00 price objective on Fortinet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $115.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Monday, July 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 target price on shares of Fortinet and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $163.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $159.09.

Fortinet Profile

Fortinet, Inc develops cybersecurity products and services designed to protect networks, endpoints, applications, cloud environments and operational technology systems. The company's portfolio includes next-generation firewalls, secure networking products, endpoint security, web application security, email security, identity and access solutions, and security information and event management tools.

Its product offerings include FortiGate network security appliances and cloud-based firewalls, along with FortiSwitch, FortiAP and FortiExtender solutions for secure connectivity.

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