Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Friday.
FTNT has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Fortinet from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Fortinet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.68.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Fortinet
Fortinet Trading Down 9.7 %
Shares of NASDAQ FTNT traded down $6.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $58.88. 15,894,899 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,879,701. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.61, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.08. Fortinet has a 52-week low of $44.12 and a 52-week high of $81.24. The company's 50-day moving average is $67.71 and its 200-day moving average is $61.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.38, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.19.
Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The software maker reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Fortinet had a net margin of 21.64% and a negative return on equity of 7,572.46%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Fortinet will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.40, for a total transaction of $1,691,751.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,625,005 shares in the company, valued at $3,471,825,357. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,694 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.40, for a total transaction of $1,691,751.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,625,005 shares in the company, valued at $3,471,825,357. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total value of $1,593,300.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,867,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at $700,705,320.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 118,480 shares of company stock valued at $8,021,556. Insiders own 17.54% of the company's stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FTNT. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortinet by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 129,130 shares of the software maker's stock worth $7,577,000 after buying an additional 8,402 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 5,717 shares of the software maker's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortinet by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 123,042 shares of the software maker's stock worth $7,220,000 after purchasing an additional 6,815 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 321,490 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $18,865,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 3.7% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 134,600 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $7,898,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Fortinet Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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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