AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Takes $4.31 Million Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 55,510 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $4,305,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FTNT. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its stake in Fortinet by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,163,093 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $130,370,000 after purchasing an additional 395,477 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in Fortinet by 11.8% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 135,500 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $10,508,000 after purchasing an additional 14,300 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc acquired a new position in Fortinet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 543.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 157,319 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $10,765,000 after acquiring an additional 132,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Fortinet by 10.5% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 138,893 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $9,488,000 after acquiring an additional 13,178 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,693 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.06, for a total value of $1,731,010.58. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,842,522 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,434,657.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 70,538 shares of company stock worth $5,403,559. Insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of FTNT stock opened at $78.66 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.38. 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 52-week low of $44.12 and a 52-week high of $83.77. The stock has a market cap of $60.17 billion, a PE ratio of 46.54, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Fortinet from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Fortinet from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.68.

Fortinet 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.