Perpetual Ltd Acquires 160,492 Shares of Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• Perpetual Ltd increased its Fortinet position by 2,214.9% in the third quarter, buying 160,492 additional shares to hold 167,738 shares valued at approximately $30 million. Institutional investors collectively own 83.71% of Fortinet.
• Fortinet reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.90 beating estimates of $0.75 and revenue rising 25.6% year over year to $2.05 billion. Recent analyst target increases reflect optimism, although the consensus rating remains Hold with an average target of $156.51.
• The stock trades near its 52-week high at a valuation of roughly 68 times earnings, creating potential downside from elevated valuation, rising chip costs and profit-taking. Fortinet insiders have also sold about $36.2 million of shares over the past 90 days under pre-arranged trading plans.

Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 2,214.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 167,738 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 160,492 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Fortinet were worth $29,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the second quarter valued at $9,561,650,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,432,842,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter worth about $979,062,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 4,500,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the 2nd quarter worth about $656,852,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTNT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price objective on Fortinet from $115.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $175.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Fortinet from $102.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 target price on shares of Fortinet and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Fortinet from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortinet currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $156.51.

More Fortinet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target from $190 to $210, signaling additional potential upside and reflecting continued confidence in Fortinet’s growth and profitability. Barclays raises target for Fortinet stock from USD 190 to USD 210
• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet’s record margins, raised 2026 guidance and artificial-intelligence security initiatives support the company’s profitability narrative. Its most recent quarterly results also exceeded analyst expectations for earnings and revenue, with revenue growth of 25.6% year over year. Does Fortinet's Strong Margin Profile Make the Stock Worth Buying Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada increased its Fortinet price target from $185 to $205. Although RBC maintained a “sector perform” rating, the higher target indicates improved expectations for the shares. Fortinet Stock Price Target Raised at Royal Bank Of Canada
• Neutral Sentiment: Fortinet reached a fresh 52-week high, highlighting strong momentum, but analysts note that investors must assess whether its fundamentals justify further gains after the stock’s substantial 2026 advance. Fortinet Hits Fresh High: Is There Still Room to Run?
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s call for stronger AI safeguards produced little immediate reaction across cybersecurity stocks, limiting any near-term sector catalyst for FTNT. Microsoft CEO’s AI Warning Draws Little Reaction From Cybersecurity Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and cost risks are becoming more important. FTNT trades near its high with a P/E ratio around 68, while rising chip costs and an unfavorable product mix could pressure margins. Investors with large gains across cybersecurity stocks may also take profits after the sector’s sharp rally. Cybersecurity stocks rally and profit-taking risks

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In other Fortinet news, COO John Whittle sold 2,835 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.74, for a total value of $478,377.90. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 96,987 shares in the company, valued at $16,365,586.38. The trade was a 2.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,972,372 shares in the company, valued at $8,616,486,029.52. This trade 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 221,303 shares of company stock valued at $36,164,034. Insiders own 17.60% of the company's stock.

Fortinet Stock Down 0.9%

FTNT stock opened at $192.94 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $167.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.42. The company has a market cap of $141.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.94, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.03. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.55 and a 12-month high of $196.87. 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 (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. Fortinet's revenue 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Fortinet

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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