Palmer Knight Co Cuts Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Palmer Knight Co decreased its holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 107,135 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 253 shares during the quarter. Fortinet accounts for approximately 3.8% of Palmer Knight Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Palmer Knight Co’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $6,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FTNT. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 156.8% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,441,059 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $554,945,000 after purchasing an additional 5,765,174 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Fortinet by 79.6% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 3,576,224 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $209,853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585,236 shares in the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter worth about $75,698,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Fortinet by 358.1% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,644,139 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $96,478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in Fortinet by 569.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 964,294 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $56,585,000 after acquiring an additional 820,257 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 46,084 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.07, for a total value of $3,183,021.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 51,813,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,578,767,976.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 38,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.45, for a total transaction of $2,549,620.05. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 29,887,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,985,992,346.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 46,084 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.07, for a total value of $3,183,021.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,813,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,578,767,976.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 132,139 shares of company stock valued at $8,977,876. Company insiders own 17.54% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of Fortinet stock traded down $0.33 during trading on Monday, reaching $63.85. 2,081,438 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,731,507. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.12 and a 1-year high of $81.24. The company has a market cap of $48.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.26, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $67.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.78.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The software maker reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.08. Fortinet had a negative return on equity of 7,572.46% and a net margin of 21.64%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Fortinet from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Mizuho upped their price target on Fortinet from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Fortinet from $60.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.19.

About Fortinet

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.