Merit Financial Group LLC Has $13.16 Million Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 139,319 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 15,022 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Fortinet were worth $13,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FTNT. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at about $670,000. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its position in Fortinet by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 89,827 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $8,487,000 after purchasing an additional 8,707 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Fortinet by 7.6% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,296 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 135,500 shares of the software maker's stock worth $10,508,000 after purchasing an additional 14,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,343,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortinet news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,044 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.32, for a total value of $2,150,466.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,039,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,576,384,617.36. This trade represents a 0.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Keith Jensen sold 4,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.83, for a total value of $386,027.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $425,901.87. This trade represents a 47.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 67,860 shares of company stock valued at $6,469,056. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of FTNT stock traded up $0.18 on Friday, hitting $94.23. 4,915,554 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,418,023. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.68 and a 200 day moving average of $80.34. The stock has a market cap of $72.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $54.57 and a 12 month high of $101.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $105.00 target price (up from $85.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Fortinet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Fortinet from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Fortinet from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $95.16.

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.