Sarasin & Partners LLP Has $240.09 Million Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 27.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,494,132 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 542,898 shares during the period. Fortinet comprises about 2.5% of Sarasin & Partners LLP's holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned approximately 0.32% of Fortinet worth $240,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 4th quarter valued at about $724,048,000. Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new stake in Fortinet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $389,867,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Fortinet by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,531,705 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $617,115,000 after purchasing an additional 2,846,475 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,622,253 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $720,150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151,811 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 72.6% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,906,439 shares of the software maker's stock worth $463,561,000 after buying an additional 2,064,016 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on FTNT shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Fortinet from $123.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Fortinet from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Fortinet from $135.00 to $115.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Stephens started coverage on Fortinet in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Fortinet from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,488 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.10, for a total transaction of $16,815,576.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 51,391,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,452,678,361.90. This trade represents a 0.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William H. Neukom bought 335 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $104.22 per share, for a total transaction of $34,913.70. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 301,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,419,307.62. This trade represents a 0.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fortinet Trading Down 0.8%

Fortinet stock traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $100.83. 3,422,968 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,965,989. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.62, a PEG ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.47. Fortinet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.57 and a fifty-two week high of $114.82. The firm's 50 day moving average is $101.38 and its 200-day moving average is $100.06.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Fortinet had a net margin of 29.30% and a return on equity of 256.53%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. Fortinet's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

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.