Zacks Investment Management Purchases 53,004 Shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Zacks Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 238,359 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 53,004 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management's holdings in Fortinet were worth $22,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Fortinet by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 843 shares of the software maker's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Fortinet by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,833 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $646,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 6,904 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,346 shares of the software maker's stock worth $789,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Fortinet by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,390 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $902,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of FTNT stock traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $93.56. 1,210,041 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,062,557. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.57 and a 52-week high of $114.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.37, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.09.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. Fortinet had a net margin of 29.30% and a return on equity of 256.53%. Research analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on FTNT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Fortinet from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Fortinet from $123.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Fortinet from $114.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $123.00 target price on Fortinet in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.17.

Insider Activity

In other Fortinet news, CEO Ken Xie sold 206,000 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.93, for a total transaction of $19,967,580.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,391,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,981,414,831.47. This trade represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth A. Goldman sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,861,200. The trade was a 9.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 576,944 shares of company stock worth $56,944,064 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 18.00% of the company's stock.

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.