Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Shares Purchased by National Bank of Canada FI

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Fortinet by 34.9%, now owning 625,215 shares valued at approximately $60.18 million.
• KeyCorp downgraded Fortinet's stock rating from "overweight" to "sector weight", as multiple analysts have reduced their price targets for the company.
• Fortinet's latest earnings report revealed a 12.6% year-over-year revenue increase, with an earnings per share of $0.64, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.59.

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 34.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 625,215 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 161,719 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.08% of Fortinet worth $60,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FTNT. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in Fortinet by 703.1% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 257 shares of the software maker's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in Fortinet during the first quarter worth $28,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Fortinet by 47.5% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 348 shares of the software maker's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fortinet during the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Fortinet during the first quarter worth $36,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTNT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp cut shares of Fortinet from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $87.00 to $75.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Fortinet in a report on Monday, May 12th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Roth Capital set a $103.00 target price on shares of Fortinet and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

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

Fortinet Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ FTNT opened at $74.39 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $101.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.60. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.97 and a 12 month high of $114.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.64, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.07.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Fortinet had a net margin of 30.60% and a return on equity of 111.46%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. Fortinet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share 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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