Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirty-three brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $105.77.

Several analysts have commented on FTNT shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Fortinet from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price (up from $120.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In related news, Director William H. Neukom purchased 328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $106.33 per share, with a total value of $34,876.24. Following the purchase, the director now owns 300,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,899,637.98. The trade was a 0.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 326,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.17, for a total transaction of $32,080,385.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,000,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,079,876,675.56. This represents a 2.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 599,988 shares of company stock valued at $59,094,530. Corporate insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fortinet

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 3,035 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Fortinet by 154.3% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,813 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,707 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 24.1% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 8,805 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Fortinet in the 1st quarter valued at $219,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in Fortinet by 8,977.3% in the 1st quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 1,997 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,975 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Price Performance

NASDAQ FTNT opened at $84.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $65.14 billion, a PE ratio of 37.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.09. Fortinet has a 52-week low of $54.57 and a 52-week high of $114.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $102.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.87.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fortinet will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.