Milestone Asset Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• Milestone Asset Management acquired 57,520 Fortinet shares worth approximately $10.3 million in the third quarter, making FTNT about 1.6% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 83.71% of Fortinet.
• Fortinet reported quarterly revenue of $2.05 billion and adjusted EPS of $0.90, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.89 billion and $0.75, respectively. Revenue increased 25.6% year over year, and the company issued fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $3.41–$3.47.
• Despite growth prospects from SASE, services and its expanded Atos cybersecurity partnership, analysts remain cautious: Fortinet has an average “Hold” rating and a $159.09 target price versus a recent share price of $181.91. Elevated valuation and potential competition from AI-focused cybersecurity entrants remain key risks.

Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 57,520 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $10,282,000. Fortinet accounts for approximately 1.6% of Milestone Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Fortinet during the second quarter worth about $9,561,650,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 11,506,173 shares of the software maker's stock worth $940,284,000 after buying an additional 3,598,487 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 87.4% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,651,024 shares of the software maker's stock worth $788,682,000 after buying an additional 4,500,194 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,432,842,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $979,062,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet and Atos expanded their longstanding relationship into a global cybersecurity framework for hybrid- and multi-cloud environments. The arrangement combines Fortinet’s security products with Atos’ managed-security services and consulting, potentially broadening Fortinet’s enterprise reach and recurring services opportunity. Fortinet Expands Global Cybersecurity Framework
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlighted Fortinet’s SASE growth, rising services revenue and comparatively lower valuation versus Cloudflare, supporting the view that the company remains a long-term cybersecurity growth candidate. NET vs. FTNT
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention is also focused on upcoming earnings. Fortinet’s most recent reported quarter showed revenue growth and earnings above analyst expectations, although the stock’s elevated valuation leaves the market sensitive to any guidance or results that fall short of expectations. Fortinet Shares Jump with Earnings on Horizon
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its Fortinet price target but maintained an “underweight” rating; the new target remains below the stock’s current level, signaling concern that expectations may be too high.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that OpenAI could acquire a cybersecurity startup pressured major cybersecurity stocks, including Fortinet. The possibility of a well-funded new competitor is raising concerns about future pricing, innovation and market-share dynamics across the sector. OpenAI Cybersecurity Deal Impacts Sector

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $181.91 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $169.14 and a 200 day moving average of $142.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $133.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.03. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.55 and a 12 month high of $197.13.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortinet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.410-3.470 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.830-0.870 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FTNT shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $175.00 target price on shares of Fortinet and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Capital One Financial raised their price target on Fortinet from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up from $102.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Roth Capital lifted their price target on Fortinet from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 price objective on Fortinet and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $159.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.63, for a total value of $507,568.23. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 9,918,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,613,022,886.80. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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. Also, COO John Whittle sold 53,865 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.44, for a total transaction of $8,911,425.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 96,987 shares in the company, valued at $16,045,529.28. This represents a 35.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 221,303 shares of company stock worth $36,164,034 in the last ninety days. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fortinet Profile

Fortinet, Inc develops and provides cybersecurity products and services for businesses, governments, and service providers. The company's portfolio is designed to protect networks, endpoints, applications, cloud environments, and operational technology from cyber threats.

Its offerings include FortiGate next-generation firewalls, FortiSwitch secure networking switches, FortiAP wireless access points, FortiClient endpoint security, and FortiSASE secure access service edge solutions. Fortinet also provides centralized management and analytics through products such as FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer, along with security operations, threat intelligence, and other subscription-based services through its FortiGuard portfolio.

Founded in 2000, Fortinet serves customers globally through direct sales, channel partners, and managed security service providers.

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