UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Acquires 1,026,277 Shares of Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• UBS AM increased its stake in Fortinet, Inc. by 17.1%, comprising approximately 0.92% of the company, valued at $675.4 million after purchasing over 1 million additional shares in the first quarter.
• Insider transactions revealed significant share sales by VP Michael Xie and CEO Ken Xie, diminishing their ownership by 4.67% and 0.31%, respectively.
• Despite recent stock price adjustments by various firms, Fortinet maintains a consensus rating of "Hold" with a target price of $97.03.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 17.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,016,467 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 1,026,277 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned approximately 0.92% of Fortinet worth $675,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FTNT. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 703.1% in the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 257 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 2,184.6% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 297 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 47.5% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 348 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FTNT. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Fortinet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Fortinet from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Fortinet from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Fortinet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Fortinet from $105.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortinet has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total transaction of $15,607,701.28. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders own 17.20% of the company's stock.

Fortinet Stock Performance

FTNT stock traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $79.68. 4,424,982 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,396,253. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.85. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $70.12 and a one year high of $114.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.12.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS 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.