Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Upgraded by StockNews.com to "Buy" Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also commented on FTNT. Baird R W lowered shares of Fortinet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Fortinet from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Fortinet from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.69.

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Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FTNT traded up $2.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $102.09. 3,422,575 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,804,244. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Fortinet has a 1 year low of $54.57 and a 1 year high of $114.82. The company's 50-day moving average is $102.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.89. The company has a market capitalization of $78.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.17, a PEG ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.97.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fortinet will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,044 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William H. Neukom acquired 328 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $106.33 per share, for a total transaction of $34,876.24. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 300,006 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,899,637.98. This trade represents a 0.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 599,988 shares of company stock worth $59,094,530. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortinet

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the fourth quarter worth 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 purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of Fortinet in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.