Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirty-three brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.57.

FTNT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Fortinet from $66.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Fortinet from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Fortinet from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fortinet from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Fortinet from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th.

Fortinet Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $78.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $72.69 and a 200 day moving average of $65.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45. Fortinet has a 52 week low of $44.12 and a 52 week high of $78.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.99, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.00.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.16. Fortinet had a negative return on equity of 2,160.10% and a net margin of 23.71%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortinet will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 24,267 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total transaction of $1,456,262.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,777,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,927,125,412.94. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total transaction of $1,386,590.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,847,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $608,626,179.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 24,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total transaction of $1,456,262.67. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,777,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,927,125,412.94. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,210 shares of company stock worth $6,337,801. Corporate insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Fortinet by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 195,795 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $15,184,000 after buying an additional 5,865 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortinet by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 11,223 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $870,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,794 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $837,000 after purchasing an additional 4,980 shares during the period. Meritas Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in Fortinet by 7.0% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 129,330 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $10,030,000 after purchasing an additional 8,502 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortinet Company Profile

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.