Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 41.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 787,390 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 232,469 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.10% of Fortinet worth $74,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Oarsman Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 188.9% in the 4th quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 416 shares of the software maker's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortinet in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William H. Neukom purchased 328 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $106.33 per share, with a total value of $34,876.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 300,006 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,899,637.98. The trade was a 0.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kenneth A. Goldman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,861,200. This represents a 9.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 599,988 shares of company stock worth $59,094,530 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 18.00% of the company's stock.

Fortinet Price Performance

FTNT stock traded down $1.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $96.30. 1,356,797 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,059,860. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $74.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.09. The stock's 50 day moving average is $101.72 and its 200 day moving average is $94.72. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.57 and a 12-month high of $114.82.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.67 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FTNT shares. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $112.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Fortinet from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Fortinet from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $105.77.

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.