First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Boosts Stock Holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 18.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,828 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $1,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at $203,501,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 1st quarter worth about $120,746,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 358.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,644,139 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $96,478,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285,197 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 223.6% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,366,467 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $79,979,000 after acquiring an additional 944,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carmignac Gestion lifted its stake in Fortinet by 3,383.8% during the fourth quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 720,902 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $42,194,000 after purchasing an additional 700,209 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortinet Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $60.73 on Friday. Fortinet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.12 and a fifty-two week high of $81.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.78. The stock has a market cap of $46.39 billion, a PE ratio of 39.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.98.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The software maker reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Fortinet had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 2,235.48%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total transaction of $1,593,300.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,867,018 shares in the company, valued at $700,705,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,992 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total transaction of $1,553,482.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,660,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,150,776,958. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total value of $1,593,300.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,867,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $700,705,320.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 91,638 shares of company stock valued at $5,705,568 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Fortinet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a “reduce” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Fortinet from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Fortinet from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.03.

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.