Meridian Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Key Points

• Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Fortinet, Inc. by 46.5%, owning 11,171 shares valued at approximately $1.08 million.
• Fortinet's stock opened at $78.47 and has a market cap of $60.13 billion, with a 1-year performance range of $69.65 to $114.82.
• Recent earnings results showed Fortinet exceeded EPS expectations, reporting $0.64, with a year-over-year revenue growth of 13.6%.

Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 46.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,171 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 3,547 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Fortinet were worth $1,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 703.1% in the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 257 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 47.5% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 348 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the first quarter worth about $36,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortinet news, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of the 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 $15,607,701.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,391,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,061,072,243.92. This trade represents a 0.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William H. Neukom acquired 335 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at $31,419,307.62. This trade represents a 0.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on FTNT. DZ Bank raised Fortinet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Fortinet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Fortinet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Fortinet from $110.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Fortinet from $105.00 to $78.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-six have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortinet presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.93.

Fortinet Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:FTNT traded up $1.86 on Friday, hitting $79.11. 10,860,686 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,399,285. The firm's 50-day moving average is $99.74 and its 200 day moving average is $101.05. The company has a market capitalization of $60.62 billion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.07. 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.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Fortinet had a return on equity of 111.46% and a net margin of 30.60%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

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.