Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Trading Up 1.7% – Here’s Why

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) traded up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $110.65 and last traded at $110.85. 860,267 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 4,558,789 shares. The stock had previously closed at $109.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Fortinet from $97.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $112.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Fortinet from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.72.

Fortinet Trading Down 1.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $82.08 billion, a PE ratio of 47.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $100.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. Fortinet had a net margin of 29.30% and a return on equity of 256.53%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In other Fortinet news, CFO Keith Jensen sold 23,500 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total value of $2,668,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $537,820.16. The trade was a 83.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William H. Neukom bought 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $98.50 per share, for a total transaction of $34,967.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 150,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,799,132.50. This represents a 0.24 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 69,460 shares of company stock valued at $7,063,290 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Fortinet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in Fortinet by 73.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 409 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortinet by 188.9% during the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 416 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.