Johnson Financial Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 49,686 Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• Johnson Financial Group purchased 49,686 Fortinet shares worth approximately $7.6 million, while institutional investors collectively own 83.71% of the cybersecurity company.
• Fortinet reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.90 versus the $0.75 consensus estimate and revenue of $2.05 billion, up 25.6% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: MarketBeat lists an average “Hold” rating and a $150.91 target price, while Fortinet shares opened at $152.85 after a reported 3.3% decline.

Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 49,686 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $7,633,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. Expressive Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at about $646,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the fourth quarter worth $10,422,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in Fortinet in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,638,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 156.6% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 390,492 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $31,009,000 after buying an additional 238,299 shares during the period. Finally, Westerkirk Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fortinet by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. now owns 52,500 shares of the software maker's stock worth $4,169,000 after purchasing an additional 15,500 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,907 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.44, for a total value of $572,141.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 9,923,610 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,453,213,448.40. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total value of $26,266,662.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,972,372 shares in the company, valued at $8,616,486,029.52. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 329,142 shares of company stock valued at $50,731,178 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 17.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on FTNT shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Fortinet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Fortinet from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Evercore set a $165.00 target price on Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $163.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $175.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $150.91.

Fortinet Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of Fortinet stock opened at $152.85 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.55 and a 12-month high of $172.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.15 billion, a PE ratio of 53.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's fifty day moving average is $155.98 and its 200-day moving average is $116.87.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 191.54%. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. Fortinet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.410-3.470 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.830-0.870 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortinet Company Profile

Fortinet, Inc NASDAQ: FTNT is a multinational cybersecurity company that develops and delivers integrated security solutions for enterprise, service provider and government customers worldwide. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, the company was co‑founded by Ken Xie and Michael Xie. Ken Xie serves as chairman and chief executive officer, and the company operates through a global sales, channel and services organization to support customers across the Americas, EMEA and Asia‑Pacific.

Fortinet's product portfolio centers on network security appliances and software, with its FortiGate next‑generation firewalls and the FortiOS operating system forming a core platform.

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