Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Research Coverage Started at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) in a research note released on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $123.00 price target on the software maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (up previously from $120.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Fortinet from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Fortinet from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortinet currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.69.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of FTNT stock opened at $98.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $75.71 billion, a PE ratio of 43.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Fortinet has a 52-week low of $54.57 and a 52-week high of $114.82.

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

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.32, for a total value of $2,150,466.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,039,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,576,384,617.36. This represents a 0.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William H. Neukom acquired 328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $106.33 per share, for a total transaction of $34,876.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 300,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,899,637.98. The trade was a 0.11 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 599,988 shares of company stock worth $59,094,530 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 111 Capital acquired a new position in Fortinet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,195,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Fortinet by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 93,331 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $8,818,000 after acquiring an additional 18,008 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its holdings in Fortinet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 64,588 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $6,102,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Fortinet during the fourth quarter worth $256,000. Finally, Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortinet during the fourth quarter worth $1,179,000. 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.