New England Research & Management Inc. Sells 13,725 Shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

New England Research & Management Inc. reduced its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 83.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,775 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 13,725 shares during the quarter. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in Fortinet during the 4th quarter valued at $10,394,000. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,537,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Fortinet by 26.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,001 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its holdings in Fortinet by 22.4% in the second quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,163,093 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $130,370,000 after purchasing an additional 395,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in shares of Fortinet by 71.1% during the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 72,384 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,945,000 after buying an additional 30,084 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortinet Price Performance

Fortinet stock opened at $77.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $73.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.32. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.12 and a 1 year high of $79.08.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Fortinet from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Fortinet from $85.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. HSBC raised Fortinet from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $59.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Fortinet from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,538 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.94, for a total value of $1,763,937.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,878,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,662,977,721.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.94, for a total transaction of $1,763,937.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,878,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,662,977,721.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total transaction of $1,386,590.32. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,210 shares of company stock worth $6,337,801 over the last quarter. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.