Vident Advisory LLC Increases Stock Position in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC has significantly increased its holdings in Fortinet, Inc. by 106.4% during Q1, now owning approximately $81.05 million worth of shares, making Fortinet its 13th largest investment.
• Analysts have mixed views on Fortinet's stock, with price targets ranging from $85 to $113; currently holding an average rating of "Hold" with a target price of $97.40.
• Fortinet reported earnings of $0.64 per share for the most recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, while total revenue grew by 13.6% year-over-year to $1.63 billion.

Vident Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 106.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 841,935 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 434,057 shares during the period. Fortinet accounts for about 1.2% of Vident Advisory LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Vident Advisory LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Fortinet worth $81,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the first quarter worth $13,629,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 15.1% during the first quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 7,183 shares of the software maker's stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the first quarter worth $522,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 49.7% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 340,677 shares of the software maker's stock worth $32,794,000 after purchasing an additional 113,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the first quarter worth $195,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Fortinet Stock Performance

FTNT traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $78.77. 4,456,207 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,627,166. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $94.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.13. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.12 and a 1-year high of $114.82.

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

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In other news, Director William H. Neukom purchased 335 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $104.22 per share, for a total transaction of $34,913.70. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 301,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,419,307.62. This represents a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total transaction of $46,935,174.08. Following the sale, the vice president owned 9,730,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $958,265,548.80. This represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTNT has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Fortinet from $105.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $125.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Fortinet from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Fortinet from an "overweight" rating to a "reduce" rating and cut their target price for the company from $110.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Fortinet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Two 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.40.

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.