Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Shares Acquired by TIAA Trust National Association

Key Points

• TIAA Trust National Association increased its stock holdings in Fortinet, Inc. by 401.2% in the first quarter, reaching a total of 13,121 shares valued at approximately $1.26 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including FMR LLC and Bessemer Group Inc., have significantly increased their stakes in Fortinet, collectively owning 83.71% of the company's stock.
• Fortinet's recent quarterly earnings report showed a 13.8% year-over-year revenue increase, with earnings per share of $0.58, surpassing analysts' expectations.

TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 401.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,121 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 10,503 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association's holdings in Fortinet were worth $1,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Fortinet by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,388,693 shares of the software maker's stock worth $792,564,000 after buying an additional 2,000,888 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,531,705 shares of the software maker's stock worth $617,115,000 after purchasing an additional 2,846,475 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Fortinet by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,470,320 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $611,316,000 after purchasing an additional 951,233 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Fortinet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,990,190 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $565,953,000 after purchasing an additional 202,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,064,016 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William H. Neukom purchased 335 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $104.22 per share, for a total transaction of $34,913.70. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 301,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,419,307.62. This trade represents a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of Fortinet 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,391,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,061,072,243.92. This trade represents a 0.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on FTNT shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Fortinet from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Fortinet from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Fortinet in a research note on Monday, May 12th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Fortinet from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.00.

Fortinet Price Performance

Fortinet stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $96.58. The company had a trading volume of 8,431,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,767,261. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.00 and a 12-month high of $114.82. The company has a market capitalization of $73.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $103.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.92.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Fortinet had a net margin of 30.60% and a return on equity of 148.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Fortinet Company 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.