Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on FTNT. Susquehanna increased their price target on Fortinet from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Compass Point set a $100.00 price objective on Fortinet in a report on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Fortinet from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Stephens set a $115.00 price target on shares of Fortinet and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.61.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Fortinet stock opened at $149.98 on Friday. Fortinet has a 12-month low of $70.12 and a 12-month high of $170.35. The company has a market capitalization of $109.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $148.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.66.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 160.08%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. Fortinet has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.720-0.760 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.160 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortinet will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,907 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.44, for a total transaction of $572,141.08. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $23,384,806.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,972,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,711,717,915.76. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 318,387 shares of company stock valued at $43,403,063 over the last three months. 17.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Fortinet by 53.6% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 215 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,780 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc grew its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,110 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its position in Fortinet by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 515 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortinet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet announced the FortiGate 1200G firewall and FortiSASE Outpost, combining ASIC-powered threat protection with cloud-delivered SASE in customer-controlled environments. The launch supports Fortinet’s strategy of converging networking and security and could strengthen its position in enterprise cybersecurity. Fortinet Expands FortiGate G Series
• Positive Sentiment: Several previews highlighted Fortinet’s strong earnings track record, including 24 consecutive quarters without an earnings miss. Analysts are watching demand for AI security, Secure Networking, and SASE, while recent results showed 20.1% year-over-year revenue growth and an earnings beat. Fortinet Before Q2 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America Securities maintained its Buy rating, and broader cybersecurity coverage points to accelerating AI-driven threats and increased spending on platform vendors such as Fortinet. Bank of America Maintains Buy Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet was reportedly selected as a customer of Intel’s foundry business, potentially supporting supply-chain capacity and strengthening its relationship with a major semiconductor manufacturer. Intel Foundry Customer
• Neutral Sentiment: Consensus-focused reports expect another earnings beat, but the outcome depends on whether recurring revenue, billings, margins, and forward guidance validate Fortinet’s growth outlook. Fortinet Earnings Estimate Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Seeking Alpha argued that Fortinet’s security platform is strong but that recurring-growth metrics still need to accelerate. With the stock trading at a high earnings multiple, investors may demand clear evidence of sustained subscription and service growth. Fortinet Recurring Growth Analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo reaffirmed its Sell rating, underscoring valuation concerns and the possibility that elevated expectations leave limited room for disappointment in the earnings report. Wells Fargo Reaffirms Sell Rating

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.