Insider Selling: Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) VP Sells 343,106 Shares of Stock

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) VP Michael Xie sold 343,106 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total value of $27,935,690.52. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 10,210,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $831,321,160.44. The trade was a 3.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Fortinet Stock Down 2.4%

FTNT stock traded down $1.99 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.30. The stock had a trading volume of 6,662,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,194,626. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.12 and a 1-year high of $114.82. The company has a fifty day moving average of $80.36 and a 200 day moving average of $83.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.63, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.06.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Fortinet had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 28.58%.The firm’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Fortinet has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.660-2.700 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.730-0.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its stake in shares of Fortinet by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 2,330 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 851 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund now owns 2,300 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Fortinet by 41.4% in the second quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 355 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its position in Fortinet by 3.3% in the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 3,391 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt flagged potential Q4 upside from tax incentives and improved sales execution, suggesting earnings could beat expectations and provide support. Rosenblatt Q4 Upside
• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage noting Fortinet’s upgrade and resilient ARR growth as signs that the cybersecurity group may be finding support ahead of earnings — a constructive signal for investors focused on recurring revenue and AI-related deals. MarketBeat: CrowdStrike & Fortinet Context
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks previews Q4 and highlights expected revenue guidance of $1.825–$1.885B and steady EPS, noting AI data-center deals could shape results — useful context but not a direct catalyst until results/guidance are confirmed. Zacks Q4 Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Another Zacks piece compiles Wall Street estimates for key metrics ahead of the quarter — important for positioning but not an immediate price driver. Zacks Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: The published short-interest data is effectively zero/ambiguous and does not appear to be a meaningful near-term pressure point. (No actionable short squeeze signal.)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: VP Michael Xie sold 343,106 shares (~$27.9M at ~$81.42) and CEO Ken Xie sold 175,737 shares (~$14.3M), reducing their holdings modestly — large insider sales often weigh on sentiment even when insiders retain sizeable positions. Michael Xie SEC Filing Ken Xie SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and reassessments of 2026 growth (including a Scotiabank downgrade) have pressured shares as investors mark down forward growth expectations; coverage notes led to a near-term slip in the stock. Scotiabank Downgrade Analyst Reassessment
• Negative Sentiment: Market write-ups (e.g., Seeking Alpha) note the stock slipped after the Scotiabank downgrade, reflecting immediate market reaction to the weaker outlook. Seeking Alpha: Slip After Downgrade

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on FTNT shares. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Fortinet from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Fortinet from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a report on Friday. TD Cowen upgraded Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Fortinet from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.48.

About Fortinet

Fortinet, Inc (NASDAQ: FTNT) is a multinational cybersecurity company that develops and delivers integrated security solutions for enterprise, service provider and government customers worldwide. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, the company was co‑founded by Ken Xie and Michael Xie. Ken Xie serves as chairman and chief executive officer, and the company operates through a global sales, channel and services organization to support customers across the Americas, EMEA and Asia‑Pacific.

Fortinet’s product portfolio centers on network security appliances and software, with its FortiGate next‑generation firewalls and the FortiOS operating system forming a core platform.