VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Increases Position in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Key Points

• VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its Fortinet stake by 38.4% in Q4, buying 155,500 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 560,747 shares worth about $44.5 million.
• Fortinet reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $0.82 versus $0.62 expected and revenue of $1.85 billion versus $1.73 billion expected, while revenue rose 20.1% year over year.
• The company has been buoyed by positive AI and cybersecurity headlines, including a major partnership with NVIDIA, though insider sales and a broader warning that the AI rally may be stretched could temper sentiment.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 38.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 560,747 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 155,500 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned 0.08% of Fortinet worth $44,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versor Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 127.1% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 18,402 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,461,000 after buying an additional 10,300 shares in the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at $471,000. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at $315,000. Lafayette Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 42.7% in the 4th quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 3,401 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs boosted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs now owns 27,274 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $2,166,000 after buying an additional 2,588 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet announced a major partnership with NVIDIA to secure enterprise AI environments, adding GPU-accelerated protection for AI workloads, prompt-injection defense, and data-loss prevention. Fortinet Deepens Integration to Uniquely Secure Enterprise AI at Scale with NVIDIA
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators said Fortinet could benefit from rising post-quantum cryptography spending and from the broader push to harden AI infrastructure, reinforcing the company’s growth narrative. BTIG Names Fortinet and Cloudflare as Potential Winners from Rising Post-Quantum Spending
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted Fortinet as a market-beating AI/cybersecurity name and noted the stock recently reached a fresh 52-week high, suggesting strong investor momentum and elevated expectations. Fortinet (FTNT) is a Top-Ranked Growth Stock: Should You Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Other coverage reiterated that Fortinet is seen as an AI-era cybersecurity beneficiary, but these pieces were more commentary than new fundamentals. Fortinet (FTNT) Could Be A Stock Part Of The AI ‘Endgame’
• Negative Sentiment: One broader market article warned that parts of the AI rally may be getting stretched, which could create valuation pressure for AI-adjacent names like Fortinet if investors become more selective. AI Rally May Have Gone Too Far With Some Stocks Up 70% in a Month

Fortinet Stock Down 1.4%

FTNT stock opened at $113.87 on Wednesday. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $70.12 and a one year high of $116.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.43 billion, a PE ratio of 43.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $85.13 and a 200-day moving average of $82.61.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.20. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 160.08%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. The business's revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Fortinet has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.720-0.760 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.160 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FTNT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $125.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $100.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 5,355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total value of $476,059.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,978,004 shares in the company, valued at $4,709,744,555.60. This trade represents a 0.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 2,478 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.89, for a total transaction of $220,269.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 9,927,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $882,456,986.13. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fortinet Profile

Fortinet, Inc NASDAQ: FTNT is a multinational cybersecurity company that develops and delivers integrated security solutions for enterprise, service provider and government customers worldwide. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, the company was co‑founded by Ken Xie and Michael Xie. Ken Xie serves as chairman and chief executive officer, and the company operates through a global sales, channel and services organization to support customers across the Americas, EMEA and Asia‑Pacific.

Fortinet's product portfolio centers on network security appliances and software, with its FortiGate next‑generation firewalls and the FortiOS operating system forming a core platform.

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