Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. Invests $9.12 Million in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 155,803 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $9,119,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Simmons Bank grew its stake in Fortinet by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 30,664 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,795,000 after buying an additional 10,695 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,397 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 4th quarter valued at $373,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 51,114 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,992,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 26,654 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,560,000 after purchasing an additional 5,353 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total transaction of $1,593,300.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,867,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,705,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total transaction of $1,553,482.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,660,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,150,776,958. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total value of $1,593,300.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,867,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $700,705,320.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 118,480 shares of company stock valued at $8,021,556 over the last ninety days. 17.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTNT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Fortinet from $70.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Fortinet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.37.

Fortinet Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of FTNT stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $59.63. 10,884,707 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,173,643. The stock has a market cap of $45.52 billion, a PE ratio of 38.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.38. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.12 and a 12 month high of $81.24.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The software maker reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Fortinet had a negative return on equity of 2,235.48% and a net margin of 22.23%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. Fortinet’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 1.4 EPS for the current 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.