Advisory Services Network LLC Increases Holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 40.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,321 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 22,672 shares during the quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC's holdings in Fortinet were worth $7,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Oarsman Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Fortinet by 188.9% in the 4th quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 416 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,044 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.32, for a total value of $2,150,466.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,039,698 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,576,384,617.36. This represents a 0.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 326,784 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.17, for a total transaction of $32,080,385.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,000,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,079,876,675.56. This trade represents a 2.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 599,988 shares of company stock worth $59,094,530. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Fortinet from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Fortinet from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $112.00 target price (up from $105.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on Fortinet from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $105.77.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of FTNT stock traded down $1.43 on Monday, reaching $96.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,356,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,059,860. The company has a market capitalization of $74.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.61, a PEG ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.09. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.57 and a 12-month high of $114.82. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $101.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.72. 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 (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. Fortinet had a return on equity of 256.53% and a net margin of 29.30%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortinet Company 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.