Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Shares Up 1.5% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Fortinet's stock rose by 1.5% on Thursday, trading at $79.30, but experienced a significant decline in trading volume, down 79% from its average daily volume.
• The company has received a mix of analyst ratings, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $97.40, indicating varied outlooks on its performance.
• Recent insider transactions include the sale of significant shares by VP Michael Xie and CEO Ken Xie, which has led to a notable decrease in their ownership percentages of the company.

Shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) rose 1.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $79.33 and last traded at $79.30. Approximately 1,174,661 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 5,563,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTNT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank downgraded Fortinet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on Fortinet from $110.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Fortinet from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Fortinet from $105.00 to $78.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted 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. 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortinet has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.40.

Fortinet Price Performance

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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $95.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.64 billion, a PE ratio of 31.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were 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. Company insiders own 17.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortinet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 51.5% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 34,807 shares of the software maker's stock worth $3,680,000 after buying an additional 11,835 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 16.7% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,460,656 shares of the software maker's stock worth $154,420,000 after buying an additional 208,985 shares during the period. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the second quarter worth about $2,738,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 19.6% in the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 87,292 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $9,229,000 after purchasing an additional 14,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stance Capital LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet in the second quarter valued at about $1,350,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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