Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT Shares Acquired by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management increased its stake in Fortinet, Inc. by 5.7% in Q2, owning 601,250 shares worth approximately $63.56 million, making it their 17th largest position.
• Insider trading activity included CEO Ken Xie selling 158,486 shares for over $15.6 million, reducing his position by 0.31%.
• Fortinet reported $1.63 billion in revenue for the last quarter, with a 13.6% increase year-over-year, and an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.64 exceeding analyst expectations.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 601,250 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 32,580 shares during the quarter. Fortinet accounts for about 1.1% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.08% of Fortinet worth $63,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Fortinet by 703.1% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 257 shares of the software maker's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in Fortinet by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 348 shares of the software maker's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total value of $46,935,174.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 9,730,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $958,265,548.80. This represents a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total value 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. The trade was a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 18.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Fortinet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. DZ Bank raised Fortinet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Fortinet from $110.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Fortinet from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.03.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of FTNT stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $85.27. The company had a trading volume of 3,202,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,703,042. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $87.01 and a 200-day moving average of $95.80. The company has a market capitalization of $65.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.97, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.13. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.12 and a 12-month high of $114.82.

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

Fortinet 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.