National Pension Service Boosts Holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

National Pension Service grew its stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,559,994 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 41,873 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.20% of Fortinet worth $91,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FTNT. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortinet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of FTNT traded down $0.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $58.74. 3,180,382 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,139,257. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.97. The company has a market cap of $44.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.97, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.08. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.12 and a 52-week high of $81.24.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The software maker reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on FTNT. DZ Bank lowered Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Fortinet from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Fortinet from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. HSBC cut their target price on Fortinet from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a “reduce” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Fortinet from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.37.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $700,705,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.40, for a total value of $1,691,751.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,625,005 shares in the company, valued at $3,471,825,357. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president now owns 10,867,018 shares in the company, valued at $700,705,320.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 118,480 shares of company stock worth $8,021,556. 17.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.