Aberdeen Group plc Has $54.25 Million Stake in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Aberdeen Group plc increased its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 14.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 513,112 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,015 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $54,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 2,184.6% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 297 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 348 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total value of $46,935,174.08. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 9,730,560 shares in the company, valued at $958,265,548.80. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was 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 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. Company insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of FTNT opened at $83.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.64 billion, a PE ratio of 33.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.09. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $70.12 and a one year high of $114.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $81.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.55.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 30.60% and a return on equity of 111.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FTNT. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Fortinet from $105.00 to $78.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $110.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Fortinet from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $67.00 price target (down previously from $78.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortinet currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.03.

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.