Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT – Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the software maker’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Fortinet from $53.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $69.39.

Fortinet Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FTNT traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $61.22. The stock had a trading volume of 8,196,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,911,127. Fortinet has a 12 month low of $42.61 and a 12 month high of $71.52. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.02. The company has a market cap of $48.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.32, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.14.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.05. Fortinet had a net margin of 19.41% and a negative return on equity of 309.63%. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortinet will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In related news, CFO Keith Jensen sold 98,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.18, for a total value of $5,920,147.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $274,962.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Fortinet news, CFO Keith Jensen sold 98,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.18, for a total transaction of $5,920,147.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $274,962.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrice Perche sold 11,035 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.75, for a total value of $659,341.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,367.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 924,949 shares of company stock valued at $53,411,641 over the last quarter. 18.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 24.1% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 391,345 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $133,738,000 after purchasing an additional 76,027 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 24.0% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,280 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 20.4% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 430 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 209.4% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,550 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 53.3% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 164 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.35% of the company’s stock.

About Fortinet

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Fortinet, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions to a variety of businesses, such as enterprises, communication service providers and small businesses. It operates through the following segments: Network Security, Infrastructure Security, Cloud Security, and Endpoint Protection, Internet of Things and Operational Technology.