Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Cuts Stake in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• Stephens Investment Management Group LLC reduced its stake in Fortinet, Inc. by 18.7%, holding 115,841 shares valued at approximately $12.25 million after selling 26,721 shares during the 2nd quarter.
• In recent insider trading, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares for around $46.94 million, while CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares worth about $15.61 million, signaling a decrease in their holdings.
• Fortinet's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.64, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenues of $1.63 billion, indicating a growth of 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 115,841 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 26,721 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC's holdings in Fortinet were worth $12,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FTNT. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Fortinet during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in Fortinet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Fortinet during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp bought a new position in Fortinet during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortinet Price Performance

NASDAQ FTNT opened at $84.66 on Thursday. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.12 and a 12 month high of $114.82. The stock has a market cap of $64.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.09. The company's 50 day moving average is $81.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the 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 $46,935,174.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 9,730,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $958,265,548.80. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,391,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,061,072,243.92. This trade represents a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 17.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Fortinet from $110.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Fortinet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Fortinet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.03.

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.

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