Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 30.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,020,203 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 899,749 shares during the period. Fortinet comprises 0.9% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.26% of Fortinet worth $194,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FTNT. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 48.7% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the software maker's stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Fortinet by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 49,166 shares of the software maker's stock worth $4,733,000 after buying an additional 2,245 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Fortinet by 34.6% during the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 14,581 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,404,000 after buying an additional 3,751 shares during the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Fortinet by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,907 shares of the software maker's stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Fortinet by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 76,325 shares of the software maker's stock worth $7,347,000 after buying an additional 16,493 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on FTNT shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on Fortinet from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Fortinet from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Fortinet in a research note on Monday, May 12th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Stephens started coverage on Fortinet in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Fortinet from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.48.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,488 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.10, for a total value of $16,815,576.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,391,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,452,678,361.90. This represents a 0.31% 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 the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 18.00% of the company's stock.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FTNT traded down $0.62 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $104.19. The company had a trading volume of 1,174,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,819,708. Fortinet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.57 and a twelve month high of $114.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.75 billion, a PE ratio of 42.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $103.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Fortinet had a return on equity of 148.79% and a net margin of 30.60%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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.