South Dakota Investment Council Decreases Stock Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 54.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,851 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 18,106 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $1,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FTNT. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 73.3% in the third quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 409 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Fortinet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Keith Jensen sold 17,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.66, for a total value of $1,688,399.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,689 shares in the company, valued at $448,549.74. This represents a 79.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director William H. Neukom bought 355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $98.50 per share, for a total transaction of $34,967.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 150,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,799,132.50. This trade represents a 0.24 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 87,110 shares of company stock worth $8,751,689 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of FTNT stock opened at $110.02 on Monday. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.57 and a 1 year high of $114.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.32 billion, a PE ratio of 48.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. Fortinet had a net margin of 29.30% and a return on equity of 256.53%. As a group, research analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on FTNT shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Fortinet from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $97.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Fortinet from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Fortinet from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.72.

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.