National Pension Service Has $96.88 Million Stock Position in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• National Pension Service cut its Fortinet stake by 45.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 1,003,190 shares and ending with 1.22 million shares worth about $96.9 million.
• Fortinet reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.82 versus $0.62 expected and revenue of $1.85 billion, up 20.1% year over year.
• Despite mixed analyst sentiment, several firms lifted price targets, and the stock was trading near its 52-week high after a recent 6.4% move higher.

National Pension Service trimmed its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 45.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,220,008 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 1,003,190 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.16% of Fortinet worth $96,881,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the software maker's stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in Fortinet by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,110 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Fortinet by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 5,250 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co raised its stake in Fortinet by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 10,823 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, L2 Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Fortinet by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 5,355 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total value of $476,059.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,978,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,709,744,555.60. This represents a 0.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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, VP Michael Xie sold 2,478 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.89, for a total transaction of $220,269.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 9,927,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $882,456,986.13. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 153,848 shares of company stock valued at $19,446,115. 17.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fortinet Stock Up 6.4%

FTNT opened at $137.97 on Friday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $96.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.15. Fortinet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.12 and a twelve month high of $138.11. The firm has a market cap of $101.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.27, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.92.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.20. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 160.08%. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortinet has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.720-0.760 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.160 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $125.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, DZ Bank cut shares of Fortinet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $125.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $102.69.

About Fortinet

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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