Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 3,463,766 Shares of Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD has reduced its holdings in Fortinet, Inc. by 30.9%, selling over 3.4 million shares, leaving it with approximately 7.73 million shares worth around $744 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Fortinet, with SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosting its holdings by 703.1%, demonstrating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Fortinet's stock has experienced a decline of 2.3%, with a current trading price of $77.75 and a one-year high of $114.82, reflecting recent market shifts despite strong earnings reports.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD trimmed its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 30.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,734,233 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 3,463,766 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 1.01% of Fortinet worth $744,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FTNT. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in Fortinet by 703.1% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 257 shares of the software maker's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 2,184.6% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 297 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Fortinet by 47.5% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 348 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Fortinet Trading Down 2.3%

Fortinet stock opened at $77.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market cap of $59.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $97.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.31. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $70.12 and a one year high of $114.82.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Fortinet had a return on equity of 111.46% and a net margin of 30.60%.The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on FTNT. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Fortinet from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Fortinet in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Cowen lowered Fortinet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Fortinet from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortinet news, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total transaction of $15,607,701.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,391,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,061,072,243.92. This represents a 0.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total transaction of $46,935,174.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 9,730,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $958,265,548.80. This represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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