Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $491.53 Million Stock Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Fortinet, Inc. by 8.3% during the first quarter, owning approximately 5.1 million shares worth about $491.5 million.
• A number of other institutional investors significantly adjusted their positions in Fortinet, with 83.71% of the stock now owned by these entities.
• Fortinet's stock has seen a decline of 22% recently, with analysts also lowering their price targets and most rating the stock as a "Hold."

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,106,259 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 389,718 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.67% of Fortinet worth $491,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Fortinet by 11,349.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,927,607 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $185,551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910,771 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,470,320 shares of the software maker's stock worth $611,316,000 after purchasing an additional 951,233 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 127.6% during the 1st quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,496,339 shares of the software maker's stock worth $144,038,000 after purchasing an additional 839,028 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 57.2% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,211,113 shares of the software maker's stock worth $212,842,000 after purchasing an additional 804,373 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $74,962,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FTNT traded up $3.90 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $78.47. 6,983,025 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,204,890. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.65 and a 52 week high of $114.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.33. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $101.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.49. The company has a market cap of $60.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.07.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Fortinet had a net margin of 30.60% and a return on equity of 111.46%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Fortinet from $87.00 to $75.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Fortinet from an "overweight" rating to a "reduce" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Fortinet from $105.00 to $78.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Fortinet from $110.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Fortinet from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 9,730,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $958,265,548.80. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William H. Neukom bought 335 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $104.22 per share, with a total value of $34,913.70. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 301,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,419,307.62. The trade was a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fortinet 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.