Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Takes $23.62 Million Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 250,000 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $23,620,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FTNT. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Oarsman Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 188.9% during the 4th quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 416 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Fortinet Stock Performance

FTNT stock traded up $1.81 during trading on Friday, hitting $106.02. 1,812,973 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,064,462. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $98.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.44. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.57 and a 1 year high of $114.82. The company has a market cap of $81.52 billion, a PE ratio of 46.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.09.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. Fortinet had a net margin of 29.30% and a return on equity of 256.53%. On average, equities analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In other Fortinet news, CFO Keith Jensen sold 23,500 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total value of $2,668,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,736 shares in the company, valued at $537,820.16. The trade was a 83.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 206,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.93, for a total transaction of $19,967,580.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 51,391,879 shares in the company, valued at $4,981,414,831.47. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 576,944 shares of company stock valued at $56,944,064. 18.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTNT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Fortinet from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fortinet from $97.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $135.00 price target (up previously from $120.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.77.

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.