Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirty-seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $97.0333.

Several analysts recently commented on FTNT shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Fortinet from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Cowen lowered shares of Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Fortinet from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total transaction of $46,935,174.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 9,730,560 shares in the company, valued at $958,265,548.80. This represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total transaction of $15,607,701.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,391,879 shares in the company, valued at $5,061,072,243.92. This trade represents a 0.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortinet

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in Fortinet by 703.1% in the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 257 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the first quarter worth about $25,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Fortinet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 2,184.6% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 297 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $84.32 on Friday. Fortinet has a 1-year low of $70.12 and a 1-year high of $114.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $85.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.12.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. Fortinet had a return on equity of 111.46% and a net margin of 30.60%.Fortinet’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Fortinet will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

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.