Ken Xie Sells 158,486 Shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Stock

Key Points

• Ken Xie, CEO of Fortinet, Inc., sold 158,486 shares of stock for approximately $15.6 million, reducing his ownership by 0.31% while still holding over 51 million shares valued at around $5.06 billion.
• Fortinet's stock price fell by 2.4% to $96.21 during trading, with a market capital of $73.64 billion and a PE ratio of 39.59 despite a strong performance in quarterly earnings.
• Several analysts have issued varying ratings on Fortinet, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target averaging $107.00, while some firms raised their target prices for the stock.

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,391,879 shares in the company, valued at $5,061,072,243.92. This trade represents a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Fortinet Stock Down 2.4%

NASDAQ FTNT traded down $2.34 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $96.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,032,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,747,782. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.64 billion, a PE ratio of 39.59, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.07. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.19 and a 1-year high of $114.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $103.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.96.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Fortinet had a net margin of 30.60% and a return on equity of 148.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 38.4% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 6,794 shares of the software maker's stock worth $654,000 after buying an additional 1,885 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet during the first quarter valued at about $216,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Fortinet by 40.8% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 131,411 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $12,650,000 after purchasing an additional 38,080 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in shares of Fortinet by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 124,501 shares of the software maker's stock worth $11,763,000 after purchasing an additional 16,139 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortinet by 18.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 20,025 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,928,000 after purchasing an additional 3,189 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Fortinet from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Fortinet from $135.00 to $115.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Fortinet from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Fortinet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $123.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.00.

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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