Zacks Research Upgrades Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) to “Strong-Buy”

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on FTNT. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Fortinet from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up from $64.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group increased their target price on Fortinet from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial set a $120.00 price target on shares of Fortinet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $150.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.26.

Fortinet Price Performance

FTNT opened at $164.51 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $120.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.83. Fortinet has a 12-month low of $70.12 and a 12-month high of $170.35.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.20. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 160.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortinet has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.720-0.760 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.160 EPS. Research analysts predict that Fortinet will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.44, for a total transaction of $572,141.08. Following the sale, the vice president owned 9,923,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,453,213,448.40. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 160,632 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.58, for a total transaction of $23,384,806.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,972,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,711,717,915.76. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 318,387 shares of company stock valued at $43,403,063 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 17.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortinet

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at $1,152,917,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 87.4% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,651,024 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $788,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500,194 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 11,506,173 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $940,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,598,487 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,730,954 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $613,915,000 after buying an additional 2,166,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Fortinet by 76.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,109,016 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $326,297,000 after buying an additional 1,777,115 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortinet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Fortinet to Strong Buy, citing improving earnings expectations and growing optimism around the company’s outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet announced new FortiEndpoint capabilities aimed at AI security, data protection, and easier operations, reinforcing its positioning in the fast-growing AI cybersecurity market. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company also named TD SYNNEX as a global distribution partner, which could widen Fortinet’s reach and support future sales growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Broader cybersecurity-sector strength is also helping FTNT, with articles noting that AI infrastructure spending and rising cyber threats are boosting demand for security vendors like Fortinet. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple commentary pieces compared Fortinet with Palo Alto Networks and Microsoft, highlighting Fortinet’s AI-security exposure but also raising valuation questions about how much growth is already priced in. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: IBM’s spending warning and the broader selloff in data-center-related names helped lift cybersecurity stocks, including Fortinet, as investors rotated toward security plays. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One marketwatch item noted Fortinet outperformed some competitors despite a weak session, suggesting the stock is still facing some pressure even amid the positive catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some valuation-focused commentary says FTNT still trades at a premium despite its AI-security growth story, which may limit upside if expectations cool. Article Title

Fortinet Company Profile

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.