Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT Stock Position Increased by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Key Points

• Erste Asset Management GmbH significantly increased its position in Fortinet, Inc. by 462.1%, acquiring a total of 158,510 shares valued at approximately $15.44 million.
• Several other institutional investors also raised their stakes in Fortinet during the 1st quarter, with notable increases including SJS Investment Consulting's 703.1% boost in their holdings.
• Fortinet reported earnings of $0.64 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing estimates, while its quarterly revenue reached $1.63 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 13.6%.

Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 462.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 158,510 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 130,310 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Fortinet were worth $15,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 703.1% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 257 shares of the software maker's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 2,184.6% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 297 shares of the software maker's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 348 shares of the software maker's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,391,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,061,072,243.92. This trade represents a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director William H. Neukom bought 335 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $104.22 per share, for a total transaction of $34,913.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 301,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,419,307.62. This represents a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on FTNT. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Fortinet from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Fortinet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Fortinet from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.40.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Fortinet stock opened at $79.61 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $97.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.47. The company has a market cap of $61.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Fortinet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.12 and a fifty-two week high of $114.82.

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

Fortinet Company 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.

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