Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Fortinet, Inc. by 22.6% in the second quarter, acquiring a total of 20,099 shares valued at approximately $2.13 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have also entered or increased their positions in Fortinet, indicating a growing institutional interest in the company, with 83.71% of shares owned by such investors.
• Analysts have recently revised Fortinet's price targets downward, with Barclays and Wells Fargo reducing their targets significantly, although the stock maintains an average rating of "Hold" with a price target of around $97.03.

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 22.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,099 shares of the software maker's stock after acquiring an additional 3,706 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Fortinet were worth $2,125,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Fortinet by 2,184.6% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 297 shares of the software maker's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Fortinet by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 348 shares of the software maker's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on FTNT. Barclays dropped their price target on Fortinet from $110.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Fortinet from $110.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company 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 for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $67.00 price target (down from $78.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 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 value of $15,607,701.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,391,879 shares in the company, valued at $5,061,072,243.92. This trade represents a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value of $46,935,174.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fortinet Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ FTNT opened at $83.58 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $64.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.09. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $70.12 and a one year high of $114.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $80.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.28.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Fortinet had a return on equity of 111.46% and a net margin of 30.60%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS 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.

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