Mechanics Financial Corp Takes $36,000 Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Mechanics Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 375 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $36,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FTNT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $724,048,000. Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new position in Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $389,867,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Fortinet by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,531,705 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $617,115,000 after buying an additional 2,846,475 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Fortinet by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,622,253 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $720,150,000 after buying an additional 2,151,811 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Fortinet by 72.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,906,439 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $463,561,000 after buying an additional 2,064,016 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FTNT. Stephens began coverage on shares of Fortinet in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $123.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Roth Capital set a $103.00 price target on shares of Fortinet and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Fortinet in a report on Monday, May 12th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.48.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,546 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.11, for a total transaction of $376,266.06. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,000,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,167,217,215.48. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,488 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.10, for a total transaction of $16,815,576.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,391,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,452,678,361.90. The trade was a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Price Performance

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $104.93 on Wednesday. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $54.57 and a one year high of $114.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $80.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.18, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $103.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.09.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

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.