Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT Shares Acquired by Sciencast Management LP

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP increased its stake in Fortinet, Inc. by 251.3% in Q1, acquiring an additional 11,033 shares to total 15,423 shares worth approximately $1.49 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and GAMMA Investing LLC, have significantly raised their stakes in Fortinet during the same period, reflecting a strong interest in the company's stock.
• Fortinet recently reported earnings of $0.64 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations by $0.05, which marks a 13.6% year-over-year revenue growth.

Sciencast Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 251.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,423 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 11,033 shares during the quarter. Sciencast Management LP's holdings in Fortinet were worth $1,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in Fortinet during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in Fortinet by 2,184.6% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 297 shares of the software maker's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in Fortinet by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 348 shares of the software maker's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FTNT. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $85.00 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $85.00 price target (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Fortinet from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Fortinet from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Fortinet from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fortinet presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.03.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 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 value of $15,607,701.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,391,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,061,072,243.92. This represents a 0.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 value 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 $958,265,548.80. The trade was a 4.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 18.00% of the company's stock.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of FTNT stock traded down $1.21 on Friday, hitting $79.68. The company had a trading volume of 4,424,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,074,259. The firm has a market cap of $61.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $89.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Fortinet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.12 and a twelve month high of $114.82.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. Fortinet had a return on equity of 111.46% and a net margin of 30.60%.Fortinet's quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortinet 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.