Prudential PLC Has $13.33 Million Holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Key Points

• Prudential PLC increased its holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 437.7%, owning a total of 138,454 shares worth approximately $13.33 million.
• Fortinet reported earnings of $0.64 per share for the most recent quarter, exceeding expectations by $0.05, with a revenue total of $1.63 billion.
• Several analysts have downgraded their target prices for Fortinet, with average projections now ranging from $78 to $97.93 per share.

Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 437.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,454 shares of the software maker's stock after acquiring an additional 112,703 shares during the period. Prudential PLC's holdings in Fortinet were worth $13,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake 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 bought a new position in Fortinet during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Fortinet by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 348 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FTNT. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Fortinet from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Fortinet from $105.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Fortinet from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-six have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortinet has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.93.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Fortinet stock traded up $1.86 on Friday, hitting $79.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,860,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,399,285. The firm has a market cap of $60.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $99.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.05. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Fortinet had a net margin of 30.60% and a return on equity of 111.46%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 $5,061,072,243.92. This represents a 0.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president owned 9,730,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $958,265,548.80. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

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.