GDS Wealth Management Increases Stock Position in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• GDS Wealth Management increased its stake in Fortinet, Inc. by 145.4%, owning 49,659 shares worth approximately $4.78 million after acquiring an additional 29,422 shares.
• Fortinet reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.64, exceeding analysts' estimates, with revenue at $1.63 billion, up 13.6% compared to the previous year.
• Multiple institutional investors have significantly adjusted their positions in Fortinet, with some seeing increases of over 700% in their stakes during the same period.

GDS Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 145.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,659 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 29,422 shares during the period. GDS Wealth Management's holdings in Fortinet were worth $4,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortinet by 703.1% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Fortinet Trading Down 3.3%

Fortinet stock opened at $78.09 on Wednesday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $98.33 and its 200-day moving average is $100.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.33. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.12 and a 1 year high of $114.82. The company has a market cap of $59.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.11, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.07.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In related news, Director William H. Neukom bought 335 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $104.22 per share, with a total value of $34,913.70. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 9,730,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $958,265,548.80. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on FTNT. Mizuho reduced their target price on Fortinet from $87.00 to $75.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Fortinet from an "overweight" rating to a "reduce" rating and cut their price target for the company from $110.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Cowen downgraded shares of Fortinet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Fortinet from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.40.

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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