Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Shares Acquired by National Pension Service

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Fortinet, Inc. by 5.8%, acquiring a total of over 2 million shares, worth approximately $199.5 million.
• In recent insider transactions, CEO Ken Xie sold almost 158,500 shares, representing a 0.31% decrease in his ownership, while Director William H. Neukom bought 335 shares, showing a small increase in his stake.
• Fortinet's stock has seen analysts' ratings shift, with several firms adjusting their price targets downwards, indicating a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.93.

National Pension Service raised its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,072,848 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 113,001 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.27% of Fortinet worth $199,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the first quarter valued at approximately $195,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 50.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,082,988 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $104,331,000 after purchasing an additional 364,893 shares during the period. Prudential PLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 437.7% in the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 138,454 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $13,328,000 after purchasing an additional 112,703 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 8.0% in the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 208,112 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $20,043,000 after purchasing an additional 15,486 shares during the period. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the first quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $958,265,548.80. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William H. Neukom acquired 335 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $104.22 per share, with a total value of $34,913.70. Following the purchase, the director owned 301,471 shares in the company, 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 owned by company insiders.

Fortinet Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ:FTNT traded up $1.86 on Friday, hitting $79.11. 10,860,686 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,399,285. The stock has a market cap of $60.62 billion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $99.74 and a 200-day moving average of $101.05. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 111.46% and a net margin of 30.60%. The firm's revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FTNT. Barclays dropped their target price on Fortinet from $110.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Fortinet from $105.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Fortinet from $87.00 to $75.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Cowen lowered Fortinet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Fortinet from $105.00 to $78.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-six have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.