Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Fortinet, acquiring an additional 176,972 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 4.15 million shares valued at around $399.6 million.
• Fortinet reported earnings of $0.64 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $0.59, with a year-over-year revenue growth of 13.6%.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of Fortinet's stock, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,151,597 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 176,972 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.54% of Fortinet worth $399,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Fortinet by 703.1% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 257 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Fortinet by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 348 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp bought a new stake in Fortinet during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Fortinet Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Fortinet stock traded down $0.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $74.39. 17,001,530 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,194,551. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock's fifty day moving average is $101.76 and its 200 day moving average is $101.62. The firm has a market cap of $56.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.07. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.97 and a 1 year high of $114.82.

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

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In other news, Director William H. Neukom bought 335 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $104.22 per share, for a total transaction of $34,913.70. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 301,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,419,307.62. This trade represents a 0.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total transaction of $46,935,174.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 9,730,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $958,265,548.80. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FTNT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Fortinet from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Fortinet from $105.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Fortinet from $105.00 to $78.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Fortinet from $110.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Roth Capital set a $103.00 price target on shares of Fortinet and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.93.

About Fortinet

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.