AXS Investments LLC Increases Stock Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

AXS Investments LLC lifted its stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,083 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,158 shares during the period. AXS Investments LLC’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $2,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Headinvest LLC bought a new position in Fortinet in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. American National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 443.6% in the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 598 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Fortinet in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total value of $1,593,300.80. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 10,867,018 shares in the company, valued at $700,705,320.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total value of $1,553,482.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,660,648 shares in the company, valued at $3,150,776,958. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 72,396 shares of company stock valued at $4,838,534. Company insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Fortinet from $81.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Fortinet from $67.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. DZ Bank cut shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.10.

Fortinet Stock Performance

FTNT traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $60.93. The company had a trading volume of 3,711,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,948,537. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.12 and a 1 year high of $81.24. 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 market cap of $46.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average of $64.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.28.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The software maker reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 2,235.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.